Commerce Narrowly Defeats Build-Out Provision By John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable
6/28/2006 1:05:00 PM http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6347946.html?display=Breaking+News In an extremely close vote (12 to 10), the Senate Commerce Committee Wednesday defeated a phased-in video franchise build-out requirement. The amendment, co-sponsored by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) would have no build-out requirement for the first three years, then a requirement of a 15% building out within two years, then if that were achieved, another 20% until the build-out was complete. Kerry called it called it a moderate proposal that would not require any buildout that was not predicated on the economic success of the service, saying it struck a balance between the interests of those investing capital and needing a return, and the government interest in as many people getting broadband service as quickly as possible. Kerry pointed out that the telephone companies have already struck even larger build-out agreements in states including Utah, Florida, Maryland, Texas, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Colorado, suggesting they were already doing more than the bill would require. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the bill's co-sponsor, pointed out that current state franchise agreements would not be grandfathered, so their existing build-out requirements would be superseded. But Republican votes, buttressed by the argument that any build-out requirement could scare off Wall Street, barely won the day. ================================================= George Antunes Voice (713) 743-3923 Associate Professor Fax (713) 743-3927 Political Science Internet: antunes at uh dot edu University of Houston Houston, TX 77204-3011 Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
