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from: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors

NATOA ACTION ALERT 6.2.06

House Floor Vote Next Week On Telecom Bill:
Urge Your Member To Vote “NO” on COPE

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!

The US House of Representatives will consider the Communications Opportunities Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 (Barton-Rush) bill as early as Wednesday, June 7, 2006.* All NATOA members are requested to please contact their House of Representative members and ask them to vote no!

COPE does significant harm to consumers and cities in three significant ways, and no amendment (even those in sheep’s clothing) that’s allowed by the Rules Committee will make this legislation acceptable.

First, the bill strips local governments of their authority to franchise the use of their rights-of-way for video/cable services and gives that authority to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington, D.C. The FCC has never had the authority to regulate local public rights-of-way and has no expertise concerning local streets, sidewalks, public safety or traffic patterns.

Second, it gives the FCC the authority to oversee and second-guess all local rights-of-way management practices and all customer service issues. Incidents occurring in local rights-of-way are public safety concerns and must be addressed immediately and locally. This bill completely ignores the reality that the FCC is not able to respond in a timely manner to these rights-of-way concerns. The FCC does not have the resources to handle all customer complaints nationwide, and local governments are best situated to respond to their residents' complaints.

Third, the bill allows providers of the broadband-video service, through the national franchise, to use the public rights-of-way in a community but pick and choose which neighborhoods they wish to serve while bypassing all others completely. The bill would even allow broadband-video providers to avoid maintaining or upgrading facilities in poorer neighborhoods while affluent neighborhoods receive cutting-edge services and lower prices.

In addition, reports are that none of our pro-local government amendments will be allowed through Rules Committee.

Your urgent action is needed. Please contact your member in the U.S. House of Representatives by 5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, June 6, and urge them to vote "NO" on the Communications, Opportunity, Promotion, and Enhancement Act of 2006 (COPE / H.R. 5252). Simply dial the Capitol switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask for your member's office.

*The Whip Notice from Majority Whip Roy Blunt for the week of June 5 indicates that HR5252 will be brought to the House floor for a vote next week – the exact day is left open and may occur anytime from Wednesday through the end of the week. We will advise as to any change in schedule should one occur.

VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO – VOTE NO