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Despite the gutting of muni broadband provisions, PEG provisions have somehow survived the AT&T legislative process in Illinois. Just in from a friend:

The Illinois bill passed the House 113-0 and is expected to pass the Senate tonight.

PEG Provisions in SB 678:

PEGs will receive 1% of gross revenues above the 5% franchise fee with a match in funds for PEGs with funding beyond 1%.

The holder will pay all PEG carriage costs.

The holder must match the signal quality and functionality of commercial channels.

The holder must interconnect and carry PEG channels within 90 days of the initial request for carriage.

Up to three PEG channels can be established in areas with no PEG.

An additional channel can be added once an existing channel exceeds 40 hours per week.

All language allowing the confication of PEG channels if programming repeats was removed.

The franchise fee definition was fixed so that there will be no reduction in funds from the 5% franchise fee.

Cable operators opting in to the deal must make an upfront payment for amounts owed for PEG under their current agreements to the end of the franchise term and must pay any additional amounts required under the SB 678 PEG funding obligations when those payments would have been due.