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from: Nashville Scene

Marital Bliss
Are the House speaker and his lobbyist wife teaming up for AT&T?

by Jeff Woods

Even the jaded denizens of the state Capitol are wrinkling their noses at House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh’s intervention in one of the legislature’s costliest business battles ever.

from: BlountViews

State Sen. Finney's constituent survey

Submitted by R. Neal on Sun, 01/13/2008 - 13:56.

If you're reading this, you probably got State Sen. Raymond Finney's annual constituent preference survey in the mail. If not, it's also in today's Maryville Daily Times. If you don't have that, it's online at Senator Finney Listens.

from: Nashville City Paper

AT&T vs. Cable, round 2
By John Rodgers, jrodgers@nashvillecitypaper.com

AT&T vs. Cable, round 2
Ding ding.

That’s the sound of the bell ringing to begin round two of the multi-million dollar battle between AT&T and the cable industry and local towns and cities over statewide television video franchising.

from: Times News

Area city officials oppose AT&T push for video, TV service

Published 01/04/2008 By Hank Hayes

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Officials with Tri-Cities municipal governments expressed opposition to AT&T’s legislative push for a statewide video services franchise while handing out their 2008 policy marching orders to Northeast Tennessee lawmakers Friday.

from: Times Free Pres

Fight for fiber
Thursday, January 03, 2008

By Dave Flessner
Staff Writer

The new year should bring new options for Chattanooga consumers who want high-speed Internet, telephone and cable TV services.

But as the local cable provider, electricity supplier and phone company try to invade one another's traditional turfs in 2008, battles loom in the General Assembly, the courts and ultimately the marketplace among Comcast, AT&T and EPB.

Also worth noting is that Verizon has had no problem securing local franchises in NY and MA where there is no state franchise law.

from: Commercial Appeal

Is cable TV law really needed?
Friday, December 28, 2007

When it was making the rounds in the Tennessee General Assembly last spring, a bill dealing with cable television franchising was jokingly dubbed "the Lobbyists Full Employment Act."

from: Times News

AT&T pushing to offer cable services statewide

Published 12/16/2007 By Hank Hayes

Gregg Morton is selling an idea the cable companies don’t want you or Tennessee lawmakers to buy.

Morton, the state president of AT&T, is the pitchman for his company having a statewide video services franchise that could shake up Tennessee’s telecommunications industry.

from: Cup of Joe

Wednesday, December 12, 2007
More on AT&T's Plan To Avoid Local Fees

All the noise and furor (and millions spent lobbying state legislators) from AT&T demanding Tennessee law be changed so that AT&T does not have to negotiate with cities for franchise contracts (depriving them of revenue from fees and handing over control of rights-of-way) is apparently not important in Mississippi. In that state, they seem to have no problems working community by community, just as all cable providers currently operate.

from: KnoxNews

AT&T negotiating with local government...in Mississippi

As AT&T tells Tennessee that it's too cumbersome to negotiate for TV franchises with each local government -- spawning an epic battle to change state law -- the company has negotiated for a local contract in suburban Memphis, according to the Commercial Appeal.

from: Nashville Post

Cable industry fires broadside at AT&T Tennessee

Gregg Morton
12-06-2007 1:14 AM —

The battle over statewide video franchising took a harsh turn yesterday, when the cable industry delivered a stinging rebuke of AT&T Tennessee President Gregg Morton and those working with him to convince the General Assembly to change current law.