Legislature(1997 - 1998)
03/23/1998 04:06 PM House TEL
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS
March 23, 1998
4:06 p.m.
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
STATE RIGHT-OF-WAY ACCESS FOR FIBER OPTIC PROJECTS
TAPE(S)
98-3, SIDES A & B
98-4, SIDE A
CALL TO ORDER
Representative Porter, Chairman, convened the overview session of
the House Special Committee on Telecommunications at 4:06 p.m.
PRESENT
Committee members present at the call to order were Representatives
Porter, Berkowitz, Dyson, James and Ivan. Representative Kemplen
was also in attendance.
SUMMARY OF INFORMATION
JOHN SHIVELY, Commissioner, Department of Natural Resources (DNR),
talked about the state's responsibilities for leasing fiber optic
rights-of-way as being divided among six state entities: DNR
lands, state parks, DOT/PF, Alaska Railroad, University of Alaska
and the Mental Health Trust.
JOHN AYERS, President, e'Net Limited, discussed fair pricing for
right-of-way access on state land.
KIM JACOBS, Director, World Net Communications, Inc., addressed
concerns regarding the 47-cents-per-linear-foot price his company
has been and is paying for access with the egregiously low 6-cents-
per-linear-foot price being currently suggested.
MARK FOSTER, President, ATU Long-Distance, Inc., feels access to
rights-of-way for fiber optic cable should be fair and consistent.
KEN LANCASTER, President, Alaska Rural Electric Cooperative
Association (ARECA), read ARECA's resolution opposing fees for
utility use of rights-of-way.
TOM WALDOCK, Administration, Enstar Natural Gas Company, believes
it is vitally important for the state's fee schedule to be
reasonable, predictable and consistent for all utilities.
JOHN JENSEN, Right-of-Way Agent, Department of Transportation and
Public Facilities (DOT/PF), gave an overview of DOT/PF's fee policy
structure.
JAMES ROWE, Director, Alaska Telephone Association, hopes for local
companies, essentially separate, to be fiber optically connected
across Alaska in the future.
DANA TINDALL, SR., Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Affairs,
GCI, stressed the telecommunications build-out and infrastructure
as a critical factor to the state's economic development.
LAURIE HERMAN, External Affairs Director, AT&T/Alascom, said
rights-of-way across state land for fiber optics cable projects
should be granted under existing state standards.
SCOTT HAWKINS, Economist, supports the Administration's policy of
keeping right-of-way access on public lands consistent and
reasonably priced.
BILL SHEFFIELD, President and CEO, Alaska Railroad Corporation,
acknowledged that they have an exclusive contract with World Net
for 25 feet of right-of-way but offered that they have six more 25-
foot tracts yet available for lease.
The remainder of the meeting was open for committee members and
legislators present to offer their thoughts and suggestions.
COMMITTEE ACTION
The committee took no action.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:00 p.m.
NOTES:
A total of 13 hard-copy handouts were made available to this
committee. Some documents are the written testimony of testifiers,
some are handouts, and the rest are documents provided in the days
following this meeting that were requested to be incorporated
herein. Attached is a contact list for those testifiers outside of
the Administration.
This meeting was recorded and handwritten log notes were taken. A
copy of the tapes and log notes may be obtained by contacting the
House Records Office at 130 Seward Street, Suite 211, Juneau,
Alaska, 99801-1182, (907) 465-2214, or after adjournment of the
second session of the Twentieth Alaska State Legislature, in the
Legislative Reference Library.
John Ayers
e'Net Limited
510 L Street, Suite 400
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 777-2204
Kim Jacobs
World Net Communications, Inc.
Australia
Mark Foster
ATU Long-Distance, Inc.
301 West Northern Lights Blvd.
Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 276-5303
Ken Lancaster
Alaska Rural Electric Coop. Assn (ARECA)
P.O. Box 104
Soldotna, AK 99669
(907) 262-4591
Tom Waldock
Enstar Natural Gas Company
3000 Spenard Road
Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 264-3660
Jim Rowe
Alaska Telephone Association
201 East 56th Ave., Suite 1114
Anchorage, AK 99518
(907) 563-4000
Dana Tindall
GCI
2550 Denali Street, Suite 1000
Anchorage, AK 99503
(907) 265-5611
Laurie Herman
AT&T/Alascom
210 East Bluff Drive
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 264-7382
Scott Hawkins
130 Shelly Marie Cir
Anchorage, a 99515
(907) 522-0117
Bill Sheffield
Alaska Railroad Corporation
327 West Ship Creek Ave
Anchorage, AK 99501
(907) 265-2403
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