True, but whether paid for by the utility or by the customer, the point remains, access to public ROW is not free.

I was referring specifically to municipal right-of-way fees, not easements. ROW fees are an ongoing assessment. Many times (but not always), utilities flow these costs through to the end-user. But evenso, whether one-time or a monthly fee, there most assuredly is a fee; access to the public ROW is NOT free, so you basically proved my point.

Cable monopolies were banned by the 1992 Cable Act; the 1996 Telecommunications Act did the same for exclusive telephone franchises.

Do you have a link that shows those public companies received "free usage of rights of way"? As far as I know anyone who occupies the public right of way, has to pay a fee for that usage: http://www.texaspolicy.com/cen...