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from: Technology Daily

House GOP Leaders Pushing Floor Vote On Telecom Bill

By Drew Clark

(Monday, June 5) House Republican leaders are pressing forward with the Bell company-led effort to pass telecommunications legislation and have scheduled the measure -- designed to make it easier for the Bells to enter the video service market -- for a floor vote that likely will take place this Friday.

from: Broadcasting & Cable

Franchise Bill Slated for Vote

By John Eggerton
Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2006 9:50:00 AM

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has scheduled floor time June 7 (Wednesday) for a vote on the House telecom reform bill, though other Hill sources say it could be pushed to Friday, with a Wednesday rules committee meeting on what amendments, if any, can be added.

Telco TV boxes may be coming to a sidewalk near you - and there is likely nothing you will be able to do about it! The loss of local control of 'right of way' under new state video franchising laws means that your local city will have to yield control of public spaces to telephone and cable companies operating under those franchises.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Capitol Expenses
Telcos, cable in fierce legislative fight for new franchise rules

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/5/2006

Turn on the TV or radio in Washington and, from the barrage of advertising, you’ll know what the telephone companies’ legislative/regulatory priority is: video-franchise reform, video-franchise reform, video-franchise reform. The pitched battle between telcos and cable over streamlining the video-franchising process, and between telcos and companies like Google and Yahoo! over access to the Internet side of that franchising equation, has shaped up to be the battle in Washington over the past couple of months.

From: Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Cable access could face cut
Funding affects public channels

By Matthew Stone SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Jun 3, 2006

WORCESTER— The city’s three public access television channels could lose nearly $700,000 in annual funding under major telecommunications legislation before Congress, according to a recent report by the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Community Media.

from: The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors

NATOA ACTION ALERT 6.2.06

House Floor Vote Next Week On Telecom Bill:
Urge Your Member To Vote “NO” on COPE

THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW!

The US House of Representatives will consider the Communications Opportunities Promotion and Enhancement Act of 2006 (Barton-Rush) bill as early as Wednesday, June 7, 2006.* All NATOA members are requested to please contact their House of Representative members and ask them to vote no!

from: MultiChannel News

Governors Protest Barton's National Franchise
By Ted Hearn 5/31/2006

The nation’s governors want a pending House bill changed to give states the option to take control of the cable-franchising process from the Federal Communications Commission.

The call for change came in a bipartisan letter by the National Governors Association in connection with a House bill (H.R. 5252) that would federalize cable franchising for new video providers and, in some circumstances, for cable incumbents.

A new report issued by the Alliance for Community Media shows clearly how much support would be lost to Public, Educational and Governmental Access communities (PEG) under bills now being considered by Congress.

From: The Beacon News

Whose channel is it anyway?
Towns, feds fight to control communications providers

By Heather Gillers
Staff Writer

Fox Valley towns are criticizing a proposed federal law that would transfer some of their power over cable television providers to Washington, D.C.

from: Technology Daily

Firms Fork Over Funds For Cable Rate Campaign

By Heather Greenfield
(Friday, May 26)

Telecom companies are spending serious green on advertising in recent weeks alerting Congress and their staffers to what they call a serious cause -- a grassroots campaign for lower cable and broadband rates.