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from: Chicago Business

TV bill passes state House panel

May 31, 2007
By Paul Merrion

(Crain’s) — Legislation to bring TV over phones lines to Illinois, ending cable TV’s near-monopoly, is on the move in Springfield.

Ending lengthy negotiations, AT&T Corp. agreed early Thursday morning to a number of consumer protection provisions crafted for the legislation by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Consumer groups and municipalities had fought an earlier version of the bill that would have allowed the phone company to win a statewide television franchise with few restrictions.

“Illinois is getting a bill with better consumer protections than other states,” says Brian Imus, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group. “It should set a benchmark for consumer protections in other states. That’s a good reason to support it.”

Comcast Corp. and other cable television operators are still opposed, so passage is not certain. The bill contains “nothing the cable industry asked for and a bone or two for public-access people,” says a spokesman for the Cable TV and Communications Assn.

The measure was passed Thursday morning by the House Telecommunications Committee. It could quickly move to floor votes Thursday in the House and Senate before they are scheduled to adjourn.

“It appears this is the bill AT&T should have started with,” says Peter Burchard, city manager of Naperville. “Overall, we can support the bill.”