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Message: Earth to Sen. Bill Ketron - you are dreaming and living inside an AT&T advertisement - please wake up!

from: The Murfreesboro Post

Competitive cable bill drawing some fire
By ERIN EDGEMON Business Editor

Legislation drafted to create competition in the cable industry won't hurt municipalities; it will lower customers’ monthly bill, said the bill's co-sponsor.

“It gives choice to the subscriber — to the customers,” said state Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro. “It gives them control.”

He said cable customers could see savings of as much as $22 a month.

The city of Murfreesboro and other municipalities, however, are against the “Competitive Cable and Video Services Act” that would allow cable providers to obtain a statewide franchise rather than petitioning cities one by one.

Alan Bozeman, Murfreesboro's cable television coordinator, said the proposed legislation is bad for customers because it eliminates local enforcement of customer service standards, could result in “cherry picking” of cable and video customers and reduce franchise fees paid to the city.

Customers won’t necessarily see lower cable bills either, he said.

Murfreesboro City Council approved two resolutions in early March that stated the city's opposition to the new legislation and expressed the city's interest in negotiating with AT&T for a cable franchise.

Rutherford County is expected to draft similar resolutions.

AT&T Inc., which acquired Bellsouth Corp. last year, is a proponent of the Senate bill (SB 1933) sponsored by Ketron and Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, and the House bill (HB 1421) sponsored by Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta, and Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads.

The new AT&T wants to offer bundled services of voice, cable and high-speed Internet across the state, but it wants to acquire the rights to do so by obtaining a franchise directly from the state and bypassing more than 600 local governments.

The Tennessee Municipal League and Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association are against the bill. TML said the bill undermines cities ability to establish and enforce requirements to protect residents, and TCTA believes the bill is designed to save AT&T millions of dollars and enter Tennessee quickly.

“It is a myth what is being said that it hurts local governments,” Ketron said. “That is simply not true.”

He said it is just a matter of who should be in control.

“Where does the control need to be with the City Council or with the subscribers?” Ketron asks.

He said the bill would keep municipalities from only granting one cable provider a franchise and from requiring providers to give more incentives than the maximum franchise fee allowed by the state.

Bozeman said the bill would reduce the amount of franchise fee payments made to municipalities.

“The state bill’s definition of gross revenue that determines the amount of franchise fees a city collects as part of the compensation for the use of local public rights of way is not the same as the city’s definition of gross revenue,” he stated in a memo to the Murfreesboro Cable Commission.

Ketron said cities actually would receive more revenue through expanded cable service and future economic development.

“It creates competition and choice and investment from more jobs for Tennesseans,” he said. “We estimate over 2,000 jobs would be created with the video competition.”

“It opens broadband capability statewide,” he added.

Ketron said the technology is available to implement savings to customers immediately.

Cable customers in markets with competition are seeing bills 21.3 percent lower, Ketron said.

Not only AT&T but also cable providers such as Comcast and Charter would benefit from the bill, Ketron said.

Bozeman said competition wouldn’t necessarily mean lower prices for customers but more likely added products and services. He said a recent Washington Post article stated that in Montgomery County, Md., which approved a third cable provider in November, prices for cable/video services have went up by as much as 15 percent.

Similar legislation has already passed in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas, and another similar bill passed in the Georgia House Tuesday.

Ketron said an amendment is being made to the bill to ensure government access channels aren't impacted.

Bozeman had expressed concerns that the new bill would put local educational and government television channels at risk by requiring eight hours of non-repeat programming everyday.

The “Competitive Cable” is scheduled to be before the Senate and House Commerce committees March 27.

Erin Edgemon can be reached at 869-0812 and at eedgemon@murfreesboropost.com.

Quote:

“It creates competition and choice and investment from more jobs for Tennesseans. We estimate over 2,000 jobs would be created with the video competition.”

Sen. Bill Ketron
Senate sponsor