franchising
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Courts favor AT&T / Verizon, back new video franchising rules
While Verizon and AT&T try to work their FiOS and U-verse services into new areas, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth circuit in Cincinnati handed them a victory today by ruling that the FCC's new rules setting time limits for local authorities to act on new franchise applications are within its authority. The new ruling at the heart of the debate gives local jurisdictions 90 days to act on apps by providers that already have access to city land to run connections, and 180 days for new entrants to citeis or towns, and bar them from mandating new requirements the FCC finds unreasonable, like building a community swimming pool. While we're big fans of municipal pools, we're also into competition and consumer choice, so if you've been waiting to get TV via telco breathe easy knowing the path just got a little smoother.Read - ReutersRead - Verizon's response
Verizon FiOS trying to change cable franchising in Pennsylvania
Currently in Pennsylvania, cable franchising involves negotiating a deal with each of the 2,565 municipalities individually. For Verizon, who has laid fiber in about 1,600 of these, getting deals done is a long, slow process making it nearly impossible to quickly move in on their cable competitors. Verizon hasn't actually started offering its FiOS TV service and the included two-dozen or so HDTV channels in Pennsylvania but when they do, they'd like to negotiate one deal for the whole state all at once. That's the idea of a bill submitted by State Senators Dominic Pileggi and Anthony Williams, proposing the creation of a single state-administered uniform agreement for anyone offering video services. The President of Verizon Pennsylvania stated their network could carry everything the cable companies have and up to 220 high definition channels at the same time, while cable in the area is limited to only twelve. Of course we're still -- anxiously -- waiting for there to be 220 HDTV channels but you get the point.Naturally, the resident cable companies sort of like the system the way it is, arguing that change will take power away from local communities, give Verizon an unfair advantage and don't see change as necessary. Any HD Beat Pennsylvania readers plan on stopping by Penn State's Delco campus August 8th and pleading for 220 HDTV channels giving the legislature a piece of their mind?
