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.