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from: Bradenton Herald

Cable, phone spar in cat fight

By LYNDSEY LEWIS
Herald Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE - Three shadowy figures are popping up on TV screens all over Florida.

Decked out in suits, the figures burst on the screen without facial expressions, but they manage to appear ominous, just the same.

They multiply quickly, and in a few seconds, the entire screen pulsates with the silhouettes - or, more precisely, depictions of Tallahassee lobbyists.

Telephone companies "have hundreds of lobbyists working to pass a bill allowing them to avoid serving low-income neighborhoods," the narrator says. "That's why they have so many lobbyists."

The scene is a key part of a new commercial, airing on cable networks around the state, designed to cultivate support for an amended version of a state Senate measure originally sponsored by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton.

The narrator of the spot, paid for by the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, says the bill fights "discrimination" in the cable TV market.

That bill, titled the "Consumer Choice Act of 2007," would give statewide franchising rights to telephone companies in an effort to increase competition and keep customer rates low.

Initially, cable companies expressed concerns that Bennett's measure would allow telecoms to cherrypick customers.

But those companies quieted down late last month, when Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, amended Bennett's bill in a Senate committee. His amendment would require new companies to provide cable access to at least half of low-income households in their service area within five years.

That amendment "greatly improves" the bill, said Steve Wilkerson, president of the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association. Now, the association fears it might be stripped out during the committee process.

At the end of the group's commercial, the narrator urges Floridians to call their senator and offer support for "cable competition for everyone."

"My view would be that that is a positive spot, saying that the Senate has done the right thing," Wilkerson said.

But while he's pleased with the amended Senate bill, he's not as happy about its companion measure, which already passed the full House.

Dozens of telephone-company lobbyists pressured House members to approve the proposal, which doesn't include the same amendment as the Senate bill does.

State representatives "bought the telephone companies' argument hook, line and sinker," Wilkerson said.

Bennett - who has said he opposes the amendment but believes a compromise is possible - said he has not seen the commercial yet, but has received a lot of phone calls about it.

"Basically, it's a cat fight between the cable guys and the phone guys," he said. "I appreciate all the free publicity they're giving me."

What's next?

Bennett's amended bill is expected to head to the Senate Committee on Community Affairs on Thursday. The House's version of the proposal, which doesn't have the same amendment tacked onto it, is waiting to be heard by the full Senate.