Sec. 283.001. STATE POLICY; PURPOSE. (a) It is the policy of this state to:

(1) encourage competition in the provision of telecommunications services;

(2) reduce the barriers to entry for providers of services so that the number and types of services offered by providers continue to increase through competition;

(3) ensure that providers of telecommunications services do not obtain a competitive advantage or disadvantage in their ability to obtain use of a public right-of-way within a municipality; and

(4) fairly reduce the uncertainty and litigation concerning franchise fees.

(b) It is also the policy of this state that municipalities:

(1) retain the authority to manage a public right-of-way within the municipality to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the public; and

(2) receive from certificated telecommunications providers fair and reasonable compensation for the use of a public right-of-way within the municipality.

(c) The purpose of this chapter is to establish a uniform method for compensating municipalities for the use of a public right-of-way by certificated telecommunications providers that:

(1) is administratively simple for municipalities and telecommunications providers;

(2) is consistent with state and federal law;

(3) is competitively neutral;

(4) is nondiscriminatory;

(5) is consistent with the burdens on municipalities created by the incursion of certificated telecommunications providers into a public right-of-way; and

(6) provides fair and reasonable compensation for the use of a public right-of-way.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 840, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.