from: Austin American Statesman [1]

COMMENTARY

Williams: In defense of local control

Chad Williams, AUSTIN COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

After 22 consecutive years of telecommunications deregulation, the law that ensures consumer protection and local control is in jeopardy.

Pushed by telecommunications industry lobbyists, Texas was one of the first states to pass anti-consumer legislation. Last session, Senate Bill 5 was presented as the only way competition could exist in the cable television market. Industry lobbyists made misrepresentations claiming that Texas cities were preventing companies from providing low-cost, competitive video services to residents because of the local franchising process. The result has been a loss of local input on programming and consumer protection.

Here's how it works. If you have a complaint about your cable service, you essentially have two options: complain to the cable company or complain to your local government's regulatory affairs office.

Senate Bill 5 started the systematic removal of your local government's ability to help you, which is exactly what telecommunications industry lobbyists wanted. Since the promise of increased competition among cable providers has not materialized in most of Austin, it's hard to imagine the major cable company in town actually listening to residents' complaints.

The same thing is happening in Congress. A federal bill, HR 5252, Advanced Telecommunications Opportunity Reform, threatens to further erode local control and consumer protection. It calls for a "national franchise" under which all communities are treated the same. The danger is that a national franchise scheme would be open to legislative changes that could put the telecommunications industry's bottom line ahead of consumer interests.

A national franchise would not meet the needs of individual communities or public interests. For example, without a local franchise agreement between the video service provider and the community it serves, we would lose local input for programming.

In addition, an unproved national franchise endangers the very infrastructure that the telecommunications industry relies on to deliver its product. After all, someone has to pay for the utility poles around town. Those creosote-soaked poles may not be beautiful, but try to imagine life without the electricity, phone lines and cable service they carry to our homes and businesses. What is fundamentally wrong with a national franchise is that it's a one-size-fits-all approach for inherently local issues: local control and maintaining the local infrastructure.

While the federal bill stipulates that video service providers with a national franchise pay 1 percent of gross revenues to support public access channels and public Internet services, it does not adequately define 1 percent of gross revenues. Worse yet, the definition might be left to the telecommunications companies. Without proper funding, the result could be a loss of public access television and a loss of freedom of speech.

Consumer protection is also in jeopardy. Federal law and Federal Communications Commission rules specifically permit cities, such as Austin, to establish and enforce customer service requirements that meet or exceed FCC standards. A national franchise would strip local governments of the ability to establish and enforce performance and customer service measures.

With a national franchise, it is hard to imagine how local governments could enforce performance or customer service requirements. What leverage could local governments use to persuade national franchise holders to fulfill their obligations?

Throughout this focus on deregulation, many ignore one factor: Local governments embrace technological innovation and competition in the video marketplace. For several years, local governments have granted competitive franchises. Unfortunately, telecommunications companies have sought competitive franchises in relatively few areas.

So, what can you do about all of this?

With the midterm elections over, Congress has come back to a lame duck session. If you want to retain local control and consumer protection, contact your congressional and state representatives and senators immediately. Tell them you value consumer protection in the telecommunications industry, that you want to retain the principle of local control over rights-of-way management and local programming, and that you value your freedom of speech through public access television.

Tell lawmakers you expect them to find ways to retain and protect funding for public access television. Tell them to hold the industry to its obligations to protect and expand our telecommunications infrastructure.

The bottom line is that telecommunications companies are making their voices heard in Congress and the Legislature.

If we, as consumers, are silent, our government will respond to the only message it hears: more deregulation with empty promises of competition and lower rates.

Williams is chairman of the Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission.