Senate Committee Holds Video Franchising Hearing
Washington, D.C., February 15, 2006-The future of video content online
could begin today in the Senate Commerce Committee with a hearing
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/wit ... fm?id=1700 on
whether telephone companies can deliver video programming over broadband
Internet connections. Currently, the rollout of video content online is
being held back 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 decades 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 all video competitors from the current tangle of
regulatory barriers via a national video franchise would also be a
significant step forward. Consumers will end up with more choices at
lower prices, with the resulting competition offering cutting edge video
services and technology. Freeing the video market, including incumbent
cable providers, from the current outdated and anti-competitive system
will also stimulate billions of dollars in new investments.
"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
