Fla. bill to boost cable competition |
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Mon, 30 Apr 2007 21:26
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The House overwhelmingly approved and sent to the governor Monday a bill that would help phone companies better compete with traditional cable companies to provide cable service.The bill turns franchising authority over to the state. Franchising is currently overseen by 67 counties and hundreds of cities, a maze of frameworks that make breaking into local markets extremely difficult, supporters said.Under the state franchising setup, only one contract is needed.Supporters said it will lower rates for consumers.'The one thing we know that this bill is going to do is benefit every person in the state of Florida who watches TV,' said state Rep. Ron Reagan, R-Bradenton. 'We are going to give competition. We know it works.'The House passed the bill with a 117-2 vote, while the Senate approved the measure Friday with a 30-3 vote.Getting the measure passed has been a drawn-out battle throughout the legislative session between cable and phone companies. The final bill is a compromise between those two financial interests.Local governments are still unhappy, though, because it strips them of their authority to franchise. Rep. Rene Garcia, R-Hialeah, said he voted against the bill because local governments were left out of the negotiating process.'We are going back and excluding local governments again,' Garcia said.The bill received support Monday from some who had opposed it earlier in the session because they feared there weren't adequate safeguards against 'cherry-picking,' in which companies choose to serve wealthier areas while ignoring low-income areas. Currently, local government franchising prevents that from happening.The bill sent to Gov. Charlie Crist enables the attorney general's office to impose unlimited fines against companies that violate the anti-discriminatory measures.Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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