Will Congress Open the Market for Online Television?
Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:35 am
Will Congress Open the Market for Online Television?
Senate Committee Holds Hearing Today on Video Franchising
Senate Committee Holds Hearing Today on Video Franchising
Washington, D.C., January 31, 2006-The future of video services online
could begin today in the Senate Commerce Committee with a hearing
<http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/wit ... fm?id=1701> on whether
telephone companies can deliver video programming over broadband
Internet connections. Currently, the rollout of subscription video
content online is being hampered by the complexity of franchise
regulations applied to traditional cable providers, such as build-out
requirements.
Senators such as John Ensign (R-NV), chief sponsor of the Broadband
Investment and Consumer Choice Act, are moving to create a national
video franchise, freeing providers from having to obtain municipal
permits from a labyrinth of over 30,000 franchising jurisdictions.
"To put the current system in perspective, at a rate of one new
franchise per day, it would take a new competitor more than eighty years
to reach every municipality in America," said Competitive Enterprise
Institute Vice President for Policy Clyde Wayne Crews
<http://www.cei.org/dyn/view_Expert.cfm?Expert=34> . "Unless the system
is reformed, the full benefits of competition in video services are
unlikely to reach customers any time soon."
While a complete elimination of government franchising requirements
would be ideal, freeing video competitors from numerous regulatory
barriers via a national video franchise would also be a significant step
toward a truly free market. Video consumers will end up with more
choices at lower prices, with the resulting competition offering them
cutting edge video services and technology. Freeing the video market,
including incumbent cable providers, from the current outdated and
anti-competitive system will also result in billions of dollars in
investments as competitors from various industries seek to reach new
customers.
"Nearly a decade has passed since Congress addressed significant
telecommunications reform, and in that time technology has grown by
leaps and bounds," said Crews. "It is essential that Congress allow a
free and competitive market in which new technologies can flourish."
CEI is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy group dedicated to the
principles of free enterprise and limited government. For more
information about CEI, please visit our website at http://www.cei.org