Summary
1. It is well understood that the FCC will become the mastermind of the national broadband effort. 2. The state government of Texas does not want lose its power to oversee telecom networks. 3. Look for other states to follow suit.
Analysis
The key giveaway line in the RFI is the “feasibility of integrating a state map into a searchable national database.” Another important criterion will be “How long would it take your company to complete the broadband map from the date of an award of a contract by the State of Texas? It would want it well before February of 2010, when the FCC will file its plan. The RFI is also fairly exhaustive as it strives to match all of the conceivable issues that are likely to be in the FCC report.
In coming out with its own comprehensive plan, it puts the onus on the FCC to justify any differences. The state will argue that it is in a much better position to determine the best ways to deploy broadband facilities in Texas. It also wants to ensure “that important [state] public and quasi-public users, such as education, health, law enforcement, and local government institutions [get] incorporated into the assessment." One could even envision a constitutional showdown over states’ rights in the federal courts.
With greater control for Texas, the state can hope to keep down to a minimum the number of federal stipulations that could stifle broadband advancement. In addition, it would want to give preference to service providers and manufacturers that are based in the state – AT&T, of course, coming immediately to mind. Suppliers that would be in a better position with more of a state plan would include Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Genband, Huawei, Nortel (whoever buys it), Samsung, and Tektronics.
