California tries its hand at telecom regulation

STATE TRIES ITS HAND AT TELECOM REGULATION
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News, AUTHOR: Mike Langberg mike@langberg.com]
[Commentary] This week, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) is expected to sign the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006, also known by its designation in the Legislature, AB 2987. The new law will accelerate a profound transformation in the way information and entertainment comes into our homes. Telephone companies, most notably AT&T and Verizon, will be able to obtain a single statewide franchise agreement to offer TV service through their wires. Cable companies, most notably Comcast, will also get to switch to a single statewide franchise once the phone companies start providing TV. This ends the previous system, in place for nearly half a century, by which cable companies negotiated franchise agreements with each city where they offered service. Almost no one, other than the cities themselves, is mourning the end of local franchising. The process was time-consuming and expensive, and it yielded little for consumers. The end of local franchising for TV service is a good thing. City councils aren't the right place to tackle something as complicated as telecommunications regulation. But we still need appropriate regulation, especially around the much-discussed concept of network neutrality. The fat pipes coming into our homes must be an open link to the digital world. We need to be able to go anywhere online, without AT&T or Verizon or Comcast unfairly favoring their own offerings. As long as the state's politicians and regulators refuse to be intimidated, AB 2987 could ultimately do as much for consumers as for the big telecom companies that pushed the bill forward.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/15604070.htm