Save Access

from: NY Press

FREE MY TV (AND COMPUTER AND PHONE)
Hooked on cable...sucks for me

By Becca Tucker

The Groove Bros live in an Ewok Village in Bushwick. The music production team’s headquarters got its nickname because it’s divided into two stories of small, oddly-shaped rooms, one of which is partially suspended so that you can walk underneath it. In the center of the “village” is a recording studio, where they lay down tracks to be uploaded and patched to collaborating musicians.

from: Newsday

Suffolk legislator pushing Verizon for equal rollouts
Can you hear him now?

BY JULIET CHENG
juliet.chung@newsday.com

July 12, 2007, 4:01 PM EDT

Claiming Verizon would discriminate against minority and low-income communities if the town of Islip grants it a cable franchise agreement -- an action the town is considering -- Suffolk County Legis. Ricardo Montano is pushing for the telecom giant to commit to thorough service rollout terms and penalized if it fails to meet those terms.

from: Buffalo News

EDITORIALS
On balance, a good bill

Right now, the final days of the State Legislature session are winding down. But in the meantime, there’s a controversy brewing among big business over a bill to change how cable television is distributed, taking it out of the hands of local municipalities and creating a special state panel to decide what company gets the franchise.

from: NY Daily News

Bill Hammond
For cheaper cable, aim your clicker at Albany

Tuesday, June 5th 2007, 4:00 AM

Wouldn't you just love to tell the cable company to take a hike?

Wouldn't it be great - when Time Warner hikes your rates or when Cablevision goes out in the middle of a big game - to cancel your account and switch to another company?

Note: We're not sure if quoting George Tenet on the Iraqi War intelligence report is such a good idea. Then again, given the disinformation surrounding state video franchises around the country, maybe it's entirely appropriate.

from: Albany Project

A "Slam Dunk" on Telecom Reform Act Vote

from: Newsday

N.Y. lawmakers considering cable competition bill
By MARK JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Increased cable television competition could be coming to New York state as lawmakers seek to lower consumers' bills.

Charles Bell, programs director for Consumers Union, said at a state legislative hearing Wednesday that in the 11 years since Congress passed the Telecommunications Act deregulating the industry, consumers nationwide have seen a 64 percent increase in cable rates under "monopolistic" cable pricing.

From: Gazette

Local govts. oppose Telecom Reform Act

By LAUREN DARSON
Legislative Gazette Staff Writer
Mon, May 21, 2007

In rural parts of New York state, broadband Internet access is only a figment of the imagination and in some regions, cable is a luxury not yet available.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Elmsford, and Sen. Vincent Leibell, R,C-Patterson, introduced last Tuesday the Telecommunications Reform Act of 2007 (S.5124/A.3980B) to increase competition among cable providers, raise the level of telephone service and to bring wider access to broadband Internet.

from: Eldo Telecom

Thursday, May 17, 2007
Protecting the telco/cable duopoly

This story out of New York state shows that telcos (in this case, Verizon) can offer broadband-based Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) in without legislation the telcos are seeking in the Empire State to put the state in charge of issuing so-called "video franchises" In this case, Multichannel News reports, the towns of West Haverstraw and North Castle Verizon's applications to provide IPTV over its propriety fiber optic FiOS infrastructure.

from: NY Sun

Slow Going on Push for Fast Internet Service

BY JILL GARDINER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 18, 2007

New Yorkers who are anxiously awaiting the day when they can switch cable television providers and sign up for new super-high-speed Internet service will need to sit tight.

While the city is now in the "final stages" of negotiations with the telecommunications giant Verizon over a cable franchise that would break up the Time Warner and Cablevision duopoly, it could take years before the majority of New York City residents can get Verizon's new FiOS fiber-optic network in their homes.

from: MNN

Video of Press Conference on New York Legislation, "Omnibus Telecommunications Reform Act of 2007"

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( categories: NEW YORK | State Franchises )