SB422 Alabama 2015 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Tom Whatley

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2015

Title

Municipal telecommunications services, public providers, coverage area, extended, Sec. 11-50B-3 am'd.

Summary

SB422 would expand where municipal public providers can offer advanced telecommunications services and set rules for operating, leasing, and sharing equipment, including internet and related services.

What This Bill Does

It extends the service coverage area to include counties that contain parts of the municipality, its police jurisdiction, the planning commission's territorial area, or utilities provided by the municipality. It authorizes public providers to furnish advanced telecommunications services (such as internet access) to residents in those areas and to lease equipment or combine leases with service offerings. It also requires nondiscriminatory, unbundled access to public provider equipment for telecommunications carriers and electric cooperatives, and obligates the sharing of equipment under fair terms, while maintaining rights-of-way management authority and imposing alarm installer licensure requirements for public providers.

Who It Affects

• Municipalities and their public providers (and their instrumentalities): gain expanded geographic authority to build, operate, and offer advanced telecommunications and related services in additional counties, and to lease equipment.
• Telecommunications carriers, electric cooperatives, and residents/businesses in the extended counties: would have nondiscriminatory, unbundled access to public provider equipment and improved access to services such as internet, alarm monitoring, and related billing/services.

Key Provisions

• Extends the coverage area for public providers to any county containing part of the municipality and police jurisdiction, the county containing the planning commission's territorial jurisdiction, and any county where the municipality furnishes or sells utilities.
• Public providers (municipalities or municipal instrumentalities) may acquire, establish, extend, lease, and operate cable systems and various telecommunications services, including advanced telecommunications service and internet access, for inhabitants of the extended areas.
• Public providers may lease to others their cable systems and equipment, with leases not to exceed 25 years, and may couple leases with service provisions (cable, internet, etc.).
• Public providers must offer nondiscriminatory, unbundled access to unused telecommunications equipment for requesting carriers or electric cooperatives, on just and reasonable terms.
• Electric cooperatives and their affiliates must have access to the public provider’s equipment on fair terms if the cooperative makes its own equipment available to the public provider under similar terms.
• Public providers (and alarm installation personnel) must comply with the Alabama Electronic Security Board of Licensure rules for alarm system installation.
• Public providers may furnish direct internet access, other internet services, meter reading, monitoring services (including alarm and security monitoring), and related billing/financial services directly to the public.
• Public rights-of-way management remains under state/local authority, with fair, competitively neutral compensation requirements for use of rights-of-way.
• Effective date: the act takes effect on the first day of the third month after passage and governor approval.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Municipalities