Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas, Todd Mason Column.

By Todd Mason, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Apr. 12--FIGHTING FOR DSL IN RURAL TEXAS: Getting Digital Subscriber Line service in Tarrant County is a lot like winning the trifecta. You're golden if your house occupies the right spot, the service technician shows up and then installs stuff that actually works.

Well, as the old proverb goes, I complained about my limp until I saw a person with no legs, or in this case, until I tuned in on the Web to hear testimony in Austin on efforts to encourage high-speed Internet access in rural Texas.

Suffice it to say that telecommunications in the hinterlands has not yet advanced to the appointment-breaking stage.

House Bill 1736 hopes to break the stalemate by …