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from: Bitch Slappin

Cable Choice and Competition, but only if you’re Rich

Nwitimes.com is reporting that in Indiana, after passage of one of the ubiquitous ‘Cable Choice and Competition‘ state level bills written by the phone companies, and pushed into passage by the phone companies deploying a swarm of lobbyists and handing out lots of chunky campaign contributions at the local level, the only neighborhoods that have been wired for UVerse service are affluent city and suburban neighborhoods. “More than a year ago, Indiana lawmakers supported video franchise reform legislation promoted by AT&T on the grounds that lower cable prices and widespread deployment would occur. So we exempted AT&T from the historic anti-discrimination rules that required cable operators to serve everyone in their footprint. . . . User-generated information on http://UverseUsers.com (probably the best and only public information available) conspicuously shows a dense concentration of U-Verse service in high-income areas and little coverage in low-income and rural neighborhoods. Indeed, it almost depicts a bright line separating wealthy suburbs of Indianapolis and the minority inner city areas.”

And if history is to repeat itself, Indiana residents will soon be seeing a rate hike from all companies, like happened in Texas and other states that passed the same type of legislation. Competition indeed.