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from: Shelbyville Times Gazette

AT&T wants to bypass local franchising

Monday, April 16, 2007
By Clint Confehr

LEWISBURG -- Competition for cable TV customers lowered rates elsewhere and a state senator is sponsoring legislation to create statewide franchising for companies delivering TV channels through wires, he said Friday night.

"This bill just passed in Georgia, and in other states we've seen, on average, a reduction of $25 a month" in cable bills, Sen. Bill Ketron said while discussing what's commonly called the AT&T bill to permit telephone and cable TV companies to bypass local franchising and get a statewide permit.

Asked if he believes the bill he's sponsoring in the Senate will lead to lower cable TV rates, Ketron replied, "Absolutely."

As for the prospect of his bill becoming law, he said, "We don't have a majority already, but we have a majority who are of an open mind."

With digital technology it's possible to receive channels on a TV that's connected to an ordinary telephone wire. It also makes possible so-called a la carte programming in which a customer could subscribe to only the channels they want instead of having to purchase pre-selected packages of channels, Ketron said.

The AT&T bill has been opposed by the Tennessee Municipal League which represents towns and cities that have, for decades, been in charge of licensing cable TV services through a business permit called a franchise. Cable companies found that system cumbersome as small, independent systems that had been started in town after town were acquired by larger systems that consolidated their holdings.

As various small systems were purchased, the new owners raised rates when they could as allowed by federal law, but the rate hikes were allegedly used to pay for the acquisitions, according to Murfreesboro officials during the 1990s when their city audited the cable TV service.

When small, independent cable TV companies sought a franchise to conduct business, including use of public rights of way and publicly-owned utility poles, cities were offered channels for their own use, or for educational programming by the local school system. A number of cities with such channels televise their council meetings like Congress is aired on C-SPAN.

This week, state lawmakers should address the so-called PEG Channels, named for public, education and government programming, a designation for those channels provided to local governments when the original franchises were issued, Ketron said.

"Our amendment will equalize the current agreements that the communities have across the state," Ketron said. "Therefore, AT&T would provide another PEG channel."

The "bottom line" for Ketron is to provide consumers with a choice -- another option on how to receive programs for their TVs, he said.

Options have been limited because adding another set of wires to utility poles is expensive, although with modern technology, one set of wires that's been in place for years can now be used for several purposes.

"One reason I chose to carry the bill is because competition will allow us the ability to bring broadband to the rural areas," he said of high speed Internet connections for computers.

Meanwhile, Rep. Curt Cobb (D-Shelbyville), chairman of a House Commerce Committee subcommittee that's been holding hearings on the AT&T bill, has said he wants to hear all the information before taking a position on the proposed law to allow statewide franchising of cable TV services.