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from: Staten Island Live

N.Y. lawmakers considering cable competition bill

3/21/2007, 4:18 p.m. EDT
By MARK JOHNSON
The Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Increased cable television competition could be coming to New York state as lawmakers seek to lower consumers' bills.

Charles Bell, programs director for Consumers Union, said at a state legislative hearing Wednesday that in the 11 years since Congress passed the Telecommunications Act deregulating the industry, consumers nationwide have seen a 64 percent increase in cable rates under "monopolistic" cable pricing.

However, in the areas where landline competition exists, consumers have seen 15 percent reductions in their cable bills, he said.

State lawmakers are now considering a measure that would allow telecommunication companies to bypass local cable television permits and quickly build new networks. Proponents say that would allow companies such as Verizon Communications or AT&T to compete with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems Corp. and lead to lower prices.

Competition in New York has been slowed by requirements that cable companies secure individual licenses, or franchises, from each community where they want to do business. Verizon and others say that is unnecessary and time-consuming and want the state to enact a law allowing so-called statewide franchises.

Similar proposals have been passed in other states despite opposition from existing cable companies and local governments that feared local contracts would be broken and local concerns would be ignored.

Howard Simons, representing the Cable Telecommunications Association of New York, said a new law is not needed here because state law already allows new cable providers to get a franchise in 30 days, providing they agree to the same terms and conditions agreed to by the current franchise holders.

Cable companies note that they had to get local community franchises when the industry was just starting 30 years ago. Letting newcomers bypass that process would give those companies an unfair advantage.

"They want the government to subsidize their business plan," said Bill Cunningham, a spokesman for the cable industry. "They could have entered the market 10 years ago and are now playing catch-up."

Verizon executive Monica Azare noted cable companies did not have to get individual permits from individual communities when they entered the telephone business.

Verizon, which spent $2.2 million on lobbying in Albany last year, however is opposed to parts of a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, including requirements that a company with a statewide franchise build a network reaching 85 percent of state residents in six years.

Brodsky, a Westchester Democrat, said his proposal also has provisions that would keep providers from blocking certain Web sites or channels or making them run slower.

"The question is: How do we lower rates and prevent these huge companies from favoring points of view they agree with or make money from?" Brodsky said.