Colorado § 38-5.5-101 Legislative declaration

Colorado Statutes

§ 38-5.5-101 — Legislative declaration

Colorado § 38-5.5-101

Title 38Property -

Art.Rights-of-way: Telecommunications Providers

This text of Colorado § 38-5.5-101 (Legislative declaration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-5.5-101 (2026).

Text

(1)The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:

(a)The passage of House Bill 95-1335, enacted at the first regular session of the sixtieth general assembly, established a policy within the state to encourage competition among the various telecommunications providers, to reduce the barriers to entry for those providers, to authorize and encourage competition within the local exchange telecommunications market, and to ensure that all consumers benefit from such competition and expansion.

(b)The stated goals of House Bill 95-1335 were that all citizens have access to a wider range of telecommunications services at rates that are reasonably comparable within the state, that basic service be available and affordable to all citizens, and that universal access t

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

(1) The general assembly hereby finds,
determines, and declares that:

(a) The passage of House Bill 95-1335, enacted at the first regular session of
the sixtieth general assembly, established a policy within the state to encourage
competition among the various telecommunications providers, to reduce the
barriers to entry for those providers, to authorize and encourage competition within
the local exchange telecommunications market, and to ensure that all consumers
benefit from such competition and expansion.

(b) The stated goals of House Bill 95-1335 were that all citizens have access
to a wider range of telecommunications services at rates that are reasonably
comparable within the state, that basic service be available and affordable to all
citizens, and that universal access to advanced telecommunications services would
be available to all consumers. Such goals are essential to the economic and social
well-being of the citizens of Colorado and can be accomplished only if
telecommunications providers are allowed to develop ubiquitous, seamless,
statewide telecommunications networks. To require telecommunications
companies to seek authority from every political subdivision within the state to
conduct business is unreasonable, impractical, and unduly burdensome. In addition,
the general assembly further finds and declares that since the public rights-of-way
are dedicated to and held on a nonproprietary basis in trust for the use of the
public, their use by telecommunications companies is consistent with such policy
and appropriate for the public good.

(2) The general assembly further finds, determines, and declares that
nothing in this article shall be construed to alter or diminish the authority of
political subdivisions of the state to lawfully exercise their police powers with
respect to activities of telecommunications providers within their boundaries, and,
subject to such reservation of authority, that:

(a) The construction, maintenance, operation, oversight, and regulation of
telecommunications providers and their facilities is a matter of statewide concern
and interest;

(b) Telecommunications providers operating under the authority of the
federal communications commission or the Colorado public utilities commission
pursuant to article 15 of title 40, C.R.S., require no additional authorization or
franchise by any municipality or other political subdivision of the state to conduct
business within a given geographic area and that no such political subdivision has
jurisdiction to regulate telecommunications providers based upon the content,
nature, or type of telecommunications service or signal they provide except to the
extent granted by federal or state legislation;

(c) Telecommunications providers have a right to occupy and utilize the
public rights-of-way for the efficient conduct of their business;

(d) Access to rights-of-way and oversight of that access must be
competitively neutral, and no telecommunications provider should enjoy any
competitive advantage or suffer a competitive disadvantage by virtue of a selective
or discriminatory exercise of the police power by a local government.