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from: The Tennessean

Naifeh wants AT&T, Comcast to agree
Governor doubts rival cable businesses will compromise
By NAOMI SNYDER • Staff Writer • February 5, 2008

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh and a bipartisan group of legislators vowed Monday to press ahead on legislation to allow AT&T to sell video services across Tennessee, despite doubts that a deal can be worked out with rival cable providers.

Last year's bill died in the spring after a protracted and expensive fight between the cable industry and AT&T.

Naifeh made his pledge to come up with something "beneficial to the state of Tennessee and all Tennesseans" after Gov. Phil Bredesen said last week that he doubted Naifeh's efforts to broker a compromise between AT&T and the cable industry would work.

Bredesen told the Chattanooga Times Free Press last week, "I don't think what Speaker Naifeh is trying to do can be successful,'' because AT&T and the cable industry are on opposite sides.

The speaker asked the two sides to hash out their differences in a series of closed-door sessions that have lasted about five weeks without an agreement.

"Last year, and so far this year, it's shaping up into what AT&T wants vs. what the cable TV companies want," Bredesen said.

"Maybe at some point, we ought to consider what Tennesseans want. It's something I am taking a look at how I might have an influence on."

Naifeh promised Monday to come up with a pro-consumer bill "neither AT&T or the cable people will like; therefore, we will have a good bill that is something that will be good for the state of Tennessee."

Bredesen's press secretary issued a statement Monday saying the governor was pleased that progress was being made and "he appreciates Speaker Naifeh's leadership on this issue."

AT&T wants to roll out its U-verse TV service in Tennessee but avoid having to negotiate separate franchise agreements with the more than 300 municipalities around the state.

Naifeh and other legislators said they want to allow a statewide franchise to introduce more competition and improve the technology available in rural areas.

Cities and counties, which fought the AT&T legislation last year, have not been brought into the negotiations.
Talks stuck on snag

The private talks between the cable industry and A&T have gotten hung up on the issue of a build-out requirement under which phone companies with a state franchise would be forced to serve a certain percentage of the population in a coverage area, according to legislators who have taken part in the meetings.

County franchise agreements normally require cable companies to serve areas that have at least 20 homes per mile, said Stacey Briggs, the executive director of the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association.

The cable industry also wants language in the bill to force phone companies to serve low-income neighborhoods.

AT&T, on the other hand, favors language that would make it illegal for them to discriminate.

"I think at the end of the day, they're not going to come to an agreement,'' said Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, who sat in on the private negotiations between the cable industry and AT&T.

Curtiss introduced a bill last year that would have created a commission made up of state and local officials to approve state TV franchises.

Curtiss said he has introduced the legislation again this year.

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, said the negotiations were at an "impasse" but
that he, too, would bring legislation if AT&T and the cable industry can't reach an agreement.

Briggs and Bob Corney, a spokesman for AT&T, declined to talk about the details of the negotiations.

Contact Naomi Snyder at 259-8284 or nsnyder@tennessean.com.