Good news! PA Cable Choice Legislation Stalled
It appears that due to Grassroots Organizing and lots of noise over the issue, the Cable Choice Legislation that would have been a gift to Verizon has been stalled. According to the article in MultiChannel News, “More than 30 communities passed resolutions opposing bills that would wrest localities’ power to regulate cable franchises from them, shifting it to the state.” Some of the specific issues in the bill was that in the shift from local control to state control all buildout requirements would be scrapped, allowing redlining of “less profitable” areas such as rural areas, the ones that don’t have access to broadband as it is. There were caps on franchise fees and a different way of computing them which would have lessened local monetary benefits. There would have been no requirements for local municipal services such as town halls, schools, and libraries, to receive access as part of the package, another cost that would have been shifted to taxpayers. Also some other lesser details. Even people who currently are very unhappy with Comcast, in many cases the ONLY cable TV option, could see that this legislation would have been giving away too much in exchange for slight benefit.
Verizon still has the option of negotiating on the local level, which they are pursuing.
This legislation being sidelined is very good news, though I expect Verizon to try again next year.
Meanwhile, Bell South is trying to pull a similar stunt in Tennessee. (pdf) Some of the details are different, but it seems to be the same song Verizon was singing in PA. Watch out for your wallets.
Technorati Tags: PA Cable Choice, Verizon, Local Access
