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from: Herald Tribune

Cable debate down to wire
By LLOYD DUNKELBERGER

H-T CAPITAL BUREAU

TALLAHASSEE -- Cable companies are using the television airwaves to lobby against a bill that would make it easy for phone companies to compete in the cable market.

Phone companies are using their own high-priced lobbying campaign to promote the legislation.

Rep. Trey Traviesa, R-Tampa, who is the middle of the cable fight, said he isn't fazed by the advertising blitz.

"This is a major, major consumer issue," he said. "And there's nothing wrong with the stakeholders communicating with the public about it."

What the well-oiled media campaign underscores is that there is a lot of money involved in providing cable TV, phone and Internet services to Floridians. Whether the regulation of that service will change will be decided in the next two weeks in the Florida Legislature.

There are more than 100 lobbyists working on the issue, representing clients such as BellSouth, AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association.

The phone companies have already pushed a bill (HB 529) favorable to their industry through the House. But the cable lobbyists are trying for the second year to defeat the effort in the Senate.

The issue boils down to this: the phone companies want to dump the existing regulatory system under which cable providers have to secure a franchise agreement with a local government before offering their services to customers. In Florida, that means they have to win approval from 67 counties and more than 400 cities for statewide service.

In place of the local agreements, the phone companies want a system that allows a statewide cable franchise that any company could apply for.

Senate Democratic leader Steve Geller of Hallandale Beach said both sides have valid arguments.

He said the phone companies make a good case by contending that the existing cable companies have little land-based competition. If that competition were opened up through a statewide franchise system, it should drive down rates for consumers.

But Geller said the cable companies have an equally valid argument. They contend giving the phone companies a statewide cable franchise will allow those providers to select -- or "cherry pick" -- the most profitable areas of the state. It means the less desirable or more difficult areas to serve, like rural communities or low-income neighborhoods, may not get the same benefits.

The third major player in the cable fight is local government. And the cities and counties generally oppose changing the existing local franchise system, arguing they are better able to regulate the cable services.

Sarasota City Commissioner Fredd Atkins testified before a Senate committee last week that he was concerned that it will be more difficult for consumers to get help with problems if cable services are regulated in Tallahassee rather than at the local level.

"Who will I call?" he asked.

Whether a phone company-backed cable bill emerges from the Senate this year may depend on whether supporters can get the bill to the Senate floor. The measure (SB 998) is scheduled to be heard by the Senate General Government Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, the bill's last committee stop.

And Senate President Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, said they are nearing the time for the major bills that feature turf fights between industries and special interest groups to be heard on the Senate floor.

Geller, who voted for the Senate bill in the Community Affairs Committee, believes the phone companies have a strategic problem with getting a favorable bill out of the 40-member chamber. The bill currently contains "anti-cherry picking" provisions.

"With the anti-cherry picking provisions, the phone companies don't like the bill," Geller said.

But Geller said if the phone companies manage to get those provisions changed, "I don't think they have the votes" in the Senate.

Phone company lobbyists are more optimistic. Ron Book, a veteran lobbyist who is representing BellSouth, believes lawmakers will reach an acceptable compromise with the phone companies, the cable companies and local governments in the next few weeks.

"The members don't want this thing back for a third year," he said.

Traviesa, who is sponsoring the House bill for the second year and strongly believes a statewide franchising system will bring more competition and lower rates for consumers, acknowledges the legislation has been a difficult fight. But he attributes that to the entrenched system that he says the cable companies and local governments are trying to protect.

"When you're trying to blow up a government bureaucracy that works against consumers but has existed for 30 years, it is exceptionally difficult," he said.

Last modified: April 23. 2007 4:38AM