Verizon Communications convinced the Herdon, Va., Town Council to grant approval for FiOS deployment even though the phone company refused to bury its fiber-optic lines. That may not sound like much but I’m not sure it’s something a cable company could get away with; in fact, Cox Communications, currently the only cable provider in Herndon, pop. 22,000, has a 220-page agreement with a lot more requirements. But town council members voted Verizon in unanimously because, as one previous holdout noted, “competition is best for the community.” Herndon is the first Mid-Atlantic/Northeast community to approve Verizon’s plans, according the Washington Post, which also says it will be months before the service can be offered.
It’s been a good week for the phone companies, who face a much harder, longer road if they have to follow the same rules as cable in terms of licensing. The Texas bill seeking a statewide certification versus the current system cable ops must follow for local approval that failed in the regular session was resurrected during a special session called for urgent education/tax legislation; it slid through the state senate Sunday, the state house Tuesday and is now en route to committee to iron out any differences.
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