Local Officials Optimistic About Franchising

LOCAL OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FRANCHISING
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 6/29, AUTHOR: Michael Martinez]
Despite the recent enactment of state laws that weaken or strip the authority of local governments to negotiate video-franchising deals, an alliance of local government groups said that there is still room to be optimistic. Members of the TeleCommUnity Alliance said during a teleconference that most recent laws establishing statewide video-franchising regimes are easier for localities to swallow than earlier ones. More than a dozen states now allow video providers to enter their markets by applying for statewide deals, instead of forcing them to negotiate with one locality at a time. The laws have been sought aggressively by large telephone companies offering new television services. The stakes at the state level were raised by the failure of nationwide franchising legislation during the 109th Congress. But TeleCommUnity Alliance staff counsel Gerry Lederer noted that statewide franchising bills have succeeded in less than half of the states where they were they introduced this year. He attributed the slowdown to the fact that lawmakers have been able to study the effects of the laws in states that have them.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/2007/07/local_officials_optimistic_abo.html