The Wyoming Telecommunications Council has revised its policy statement to emphasize cooperation between the state and private sector to provide everyone in the state with access to high-speed Internet services. The statement reads:

"Our principal challenge as a state is to identify any barriers that might exist to achieving universal broadband access and to eliminate them. With this in mind, the state recommends that the Legislature fund the Wyoming Telecommunications Council's budget request. Once funded, the council will define the areas of Wyoming where barriers exist to the provision of universal broadband access and develop collaborative plans of action to overcome these barriers. These plans will emphasize market-based solutions where possible and will be developed in cooperation with all municipal and county governments and the telecommunication companies that serve them."

CHEYENNE - Wyoming should encourage, but in no way force or require, telecommunications companies to provide high-speed Internet access to all corners of the state, according to a group of policy advisors.

To that end, the Wyoming Telecommunications Council refined its policy statement Friday to delete references to expanded regulatory powers for the state Public Service Commission (PSC) and to emphasize state cooperation with the private sector in expanding broadband services to everyone in Wyoming.

The council, an advisory group to the governor and Legislature, also looked at a $435,000 budget Gov. Dave Freudenthal is considering requesting from the Legislature to fund the council for fiscal years 2005 and 2006.

Members spent much of the morning discussing their policy statement, called the "splash" document, in order to illustrate the group's desire that they "make a splash" and gain some momentum in influencing state telecom policy, according to council member Robert Aylward.

PSC Chairman Steve Ellenbecker observed that the initial language in the document suggested that the Legislature extend the PSC's authority to include telecom services that the Federal Communications Commission requires states to oversee.

But the trend over the past decade has been toward less deregulation, so Wyoming might not want to expand the PSC's regulatory authority, Ellenbecker said.

"I think the country is in disarray over the extent to which to regulate, or not, advanced service deployment," he said.

He said state policymakers instead might want to consider incentives or financing for companies to bring advanced telecom to areas of the state where it otherwise would not be economical for the industry to reach.

Council member Bruce Egan said increased regulation could be counterproductive, but the state might be in a position to enable the deployment of broadband services.

Council member Nina Cornell said the PSC's expanded role could be to collect information from companies to learn what areas of the state are least likely to acquire access to high-speed telecom services.

PSC Commissioner Steve Furtney cautioned that while information is critical for state leaders to know where to focus their efforts, companies tend to closely guard their financial information.

Council members generally decided to remove language in the splash document recommending that the PSC's authority be expanded, and they added wording to emphasize their willingness to cooperate with the industry in getting broadband service to all parts of the state.

Freudenthal has announced his intention to ask the Legislature to fund the council's work for the upcoming 2005-06 biennium. Now, the council is funded out of the state Department of Administration and Information's budget.

The tentative $434,553 budget proposal for the Telecom Council includes $410,430 for its broadband initiative.

The initiative would include coming up with a strategy, doing an inventory of existing broadband facilities and other telecom assets, soliciting proposals from telecom companies on how they would best serve Wyoming's needs, educating the public and policymakers, and developing a proposal for the Legislature.

The budget proposal also includes $23,027 to fund council members' travel to and from their quarterly meetings and $1,096 for postage and office supplies.

Freudenthal is required to submit his entire state government budget to the Joint Appropriations Committee by Dec. 1.