2006 Telecommunications bill
Posted by Moonage on 10 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: Legislative Process
First of all, I’ve been watching this, if not blogging on it. I have been 100% for it since I saw it floating around. Not for what it’s been advertised, but for this:
The biggest telecommunications legislation in a decade, approved 321-101, would make it easier for telephone companies to enter the subscription television market. A national franchise process would replace the current system where potential providers must negotiate contracts municipality by municipality, sometimes taking months and years.
I have run into this brick wall repeatedly for years. The cable franchising system allowed the local cable company to not only block competitors from providing more and possibly better cable services, it also blocked our community from soliciting and starting a local tv station for our community. In this day and age, using copper based lines for ONE PROVIDER ONLY is ridiculous. And, that’s on top of the other lines already run for telephone. We should have one line running into our house, and that’s it. The services we choose to have will come on that one line. How could anyone oppose that?
Well, actually 101 Representatives voted against it. Primarily they wanted "net neutrality". Now, that almost seems contrived to me in that by busting up legally protected monopolies, the neutrality will be in the favor of the consumer. What some of the legislators wanted was for the feds to mandate neutrality.
Now, to me, that is exactly what is wrong with some people in DC. Which side of "free market" vs government regulation are they on? And, given a level playing field, the neutrality is guaranteed in that if one provider’s not comeptitive, another one will be more than happy to jump in IMMEDIATELY as opposed to the inadequate provider having a lock for another five or six years it would take to bust up the franchise agreement.
This is big folks, a lot bigger for you than you are probably aware.
The spin is already there as well, Republicans were bought out by the telephone companies. Don’t buy it, you are the winner here. Big time.
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