Still little statewide competition in Illinois' cable TV industry

A little more than three years after a state law intended to promote cable competition took effect in Illinois, AT&T remains the only telecommunications company to take advantage of the reforms statewide.

In a mid-summer progress report to regulators, the company also said it will meet mandates in the law for expanded service, including in Springfield. Under terms of the 2007 law, AT&T has to provide cable or video access to at least 35 percent of households in its Illinois territory by the end of this month and to at least 50 percent by the end of October 2012. The law also required that at least 30 percent of low-income households have access. The company was already at a little more than 31 percent by the end of 2009, according to the report to the Illinois Commerce Commission. The statewide video franchise was created so that companies, including AT&T, would not have to obtain franchises community by community.

Only one other company, Colorado-based WideOpenWest, has been awarded a statewide franchise, said Brian Sterling, spokesman for the ICC. That company's early marketing has been confined primarily to the Chicago market.