from: Broadband Reports [1]

FCC Approves Franchise Reform in Partisan Vote
Municipalities have 90 days to act, other restrictions imposed

Posted 2006-12-20 17:22:32 by Karl

The FCC today voted 3-2 along partisan lines to approve a plan that revamps the video franchising process to make it easier for the telcos to offer TV services. Among a number of restrictions, the new franchising guidelines require municipalities to act on new applications from competitors with access to local rights-of-way within 90 days and within 180 days for other new competitors. Conservative FCC members say the changes aim to thwart "unreasonable build-out requirements" by municipalities.

The two Democratic FCC commissioners criticized the measure for its erosion of local authority and expressed concern that the new provisions lack adequate consumer protections. They also doubted the degree of difficulty the existing system presents, since Verizon has admitted Fios deployment has gone well under under the existing system, and AT&T has been ignoring the franchise system altogether -- suing town and cities that challenge them.

The telcos had been lobbying federal lawmakers hard in the hopes of passing a nationwide video franchise system (one-stop lobbying, critics suggest), but their push bottomed out over network neutrality concerns. They've had better luck lobbying state lawmakers (to pass statewide franchises) and appealing to the FCC's Martin, who recently suggested that local franchises were responsible for high cable rates.

There's been some question over whether the FCC has the authority to make these changes, so you'll likely see this move challenged in court. The news release and commentary from each commissioner are available at the FCC website, though the actual changes themselves have yet to be posted.