Cities and the Telecommunications Revolution

"Faced with the importance of retaining authority over city streets, an unclear regulatory scheme and attacks from the industry and from the federal and state governments, cities need to get organized, both internally and collectively," suggest authors Denise Brady, Rich Esposto and Paul Valle-Riestra. They argue that two policy directions will ensure that cities are successful in the telecommunications revolution:1. Do whatever it takes to get universal broadband deployment; and 2. Retain local authority over public property. Denise Brady is deputy director of the Department of Telecomunications and Information Services for the City and County of San Francisco. Rich Esposto recently left the Sacramento Metropolitan Cable Television Commission after 18 years to pursue a consulting practice. Paul Valle-Riestra is assistant city attorney for Walnut Creek and recently represented the League at CPUC hearings on the California Environmental Quality Act.