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from: PR Web

BCAW, Urban League, Cities Say Qwest Bill Bad for Local Consumers

Opponents Say Qwest Measure Would Allow Phone Company to Serve Most Affluent Neighborhoods While Bypassing Others, Cost Communities Needed Tax Dollars and Replace Local Oversight with State Bureaucracy; Telephone Company Seeks End to Local Control of Cable Television, Critics Say

from:
Nashville Business Journal

Competitive cable TV bill introduced

Nashville Business Journal - 3:57 PM CST Thursday, February 15, 2007

Legislation dealing with competition in the cable industry in Tennessee was introduced into the state's general assembly today.

from: Technology Daily

Verizon Shifts Its Policy Focus To Boosting Broadband Deployment

By David Hatch

(Monday, February 12) Verizon Communications led the charge last year for deregulatory telecommunications legislation in Congress but has reversed course now that Democrats, who are considered less friendly to the Bell companies than Republicans, control Congress.

House/FCC OVERSIGHT HEARING POSTPONED

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet was to hold an oversight hearing with the FCC tomorrow (2/15). The hearing has been postponed so that members might attend the funeral of Committee member Charles Norwood. (R-Ga)

no new date set yet . . .

from: Ars Technica

Congress to FCC: You've got some splainin' to do

2/13/2007 3:48:17 PM, by Nate Anderson

Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) doesn't mess around. He currently chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and he's gearing up for a full-scale FCC hearing on February 15. He has already issued a string of pointed questions to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that make one thing clear: Martin should not expect a rosy reception.

from: Digital Destiny

FCC’s Kevin Martin and White House’s Catherine Martin Meet–and Show Disregard–for the Press

It’s interesting to think about how both FCC Chair Kevin Martin and his wife, Bush White House aide Catherine J. Martin, view the news media. Kevin–in pursuing his plans for further news media consolidation and his policy for a non-neutral broadband digital system for the U.S.–is ultimately helping undermine a robust (and potentially combative to status quo) news media environment. Much like his predecessor Michael Powell, Kevin Martin isn’t really interested in learning about the facts roiling the news business today–and likely tommorow.

Note: The Telcos have found a solution for their rural build-out woes - government subsidies. But weren't they heavily subsidized throughout the '90's for this same task?

from: Info World

Verizon calls for new broadband incentives

from: Buffalo Business First

Time Warner Cable unit going public

Business First of Buffalo - February 13,

The cable franchise holder for the Buffalo area and nearly all of upstate New York will become a publicly traded entity.

Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) and Time Warner Cable Inc. said Tuesday that Time Warner Cable has become a public company as a result of Adelphia Communications Corp.'s Chapter 11 exit plan receiving court approval. Time Warner Cable bought Adelphia's franchise rights for Western New York and many other markets last year.

from: MultiChannel News

Martin to Meet Privately with House GOP Panelists
By Ted Hearn2/7/2007 6:10:00 PM

Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin is scheduled to meet privately with just GOP members of the House Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee two days before he and other FCC members are to testify in public before the Democratic-controlled panel.

Send FCC Chairman Martin a Heart(ache)

Free Press is running this campaign to send FCC Chairman Martin a valentine, asking that he stop the growing media conglomerates, prevent phone companies from destroying Net Neutrality and help foster more diverse voices and points of view.

It's a light piece and we encourage you to play along in the fun at http://www.freepress.net/valentine/