From an email I sent this morning to my State Representative, Eugene Miller (D-10). Feel free to plagiarize if you’re so inclined:

Dear Representative Miller,

… On Wednesday the Ohio Senate passed Substitute SB 117, which strips local governments of their role in franchising both existing and new cable/video providers. This bill is apparently on a very fast track toward a vote in the House.

While it is being promoted as a necessary step toward “cable competition”, this bill is quite likely to have the opposite effect in lower-income urban markets. New video providers like AT&T will ignore most “low-value” neighborhoods (like the one I live in) in rolling out their new video services, while existing cable companies like Time-Warner will be freed of their existing franchise obligations to provide non-discriminatory service. In effect, SB 117 legalizes the “digital redlining” of low-income communities.

SB 117 is sometimes described as transferring cable franchise negotiation from local to state government, but this description is false. The Director of Commerce is given no authority to negotiate any aspect of the “video service authorizations” the bill substitutes for local franchises, and no administrative enforcement powers of any kind. What the bill creates is not statewide franchising, but complete deregulation of a market dominated by large monopoly providers. SB 117 has no mechanisms to protect consumers, no enforceable protections against discrimination, and absolutely no guarantee of the “competition” its sponsors are promising.

I’m attaching two documents for your information. One is the position on Senate Bill 117 adopted by the Board of Cleveland Digital Vision [3]. The other is a two-page memo [4] describing in detail how SB 117, as passed by the Senate, would allow Time-Warner (or a successor company) to abandon Cleveland neighborhoods it is now required to serve.

I would appreciate a chance to discuss this with you in the near future.

Thank you.

Members of the Ohio House of Representatives [5].

Members of the House Public Utilities Committee [6].