Cable Industry: Telcos Apparently Got What They Paid For

Consumers for Cable Choice (www.consumers4choice.org) Executive Director Jim Conran says that Verizon gave a $75,000 startup grant to the group, which was created last June, when telcos were fighting in such states as Texas for video franchise rights. CCC has become known for demanding that “outdated” video franchise requirements be reformed. Billing itself as a national alliance of consumer advocacy groups, private citizens and “others,” it says the “cable monopoly” has increased rates 86 percent in the past decade. Despite the cash influx from the telcos, Conran insists his group is independent in its positions (anyone can give him money, he says). However, most of news stories on CCC's Web site focus on telco entry into the marketplace. “We aren¹t against cable companies. We see cable franchises as the last of the great monopolies in the United States,” Conran maintains.
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