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from: Broadcasting and Cable

FCC Pulls Cable-Franchise Item from Sept. 11 Meeting Agenda
Cable Operators Won’t See Franchise Rules Loosened to Level Faced by Telcos

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/7/2007 1:02:00 PM

The Federal Communications Commission pulled an item from its Sept. 11 public meeting that would have extended its loosened franchise rules to cable.

When it adopted loosened video-franchise rules for telcos earlier this year, the FCC said it planned to do the same for cable.

But after scheduling the item earlier in the week, the FCC Friday issued a deletion notice saying that it would not be on the agenda after all.

Had the commission voted to approve giving incumbent cable operators the same breaks it extended to telcos, it would have been a cable-friendly grace note at a meeting where the wired medium faces an inquiry into program-tying practices and likely tougher carriage requirements for TV-station signals after the transition to digital.