Cities' Franchising Power Short-Circuited?

Local Texas cable regulators and the companies they oversee are getting their first glimpses of the state’s telecommunications future under a new regime of reduced local regulation. They don't like what they see all that much. In several cities, officials have spent thousands of dollars on consultants and ascertainment studies to determine the issues to be negotiated in their cable refranchise talks -- only to have the operators walk away from the table. The uncertainty is caused by SB5, the recent telecommunications-reform law fought by cities and incumbent cable operators, which lets competitors file for statewide video franchises. Incumbent cable operators can also file for state authority once their current franchises expire. That’s a benefit to incumbents, because the new state application is a simple, 17-day process, as opposed to local negotiations that can run up to five years of formal and informal negotiations, addressing issues ranging from public-access channel support to building institutional networks. The local authority wielded by city officials will diminish, a trend they find troubling. Consumers with service complaints will now have to call the state Public Utility Commission.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6273090.html?display=Policy
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* SBC Expects a Statewide Franchise Soon
Texas could grant SBC Communications statewide authority to operate its “U-verse TV” Internet-protocol video service by early next month, now that it has filed for a franchise.
[SOURCE: Multichannel News, AUTHOR: Linda Haugsted]
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6273091.html?display=Policy
(requires subscription)