California Lawmakers Vote to Overhaul Cable TV Franchising Process

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 18, 2006 - 11:55am.

Thousand Oaks, Calif. - The California Senate Appropriations Committee voted yesterday to overhaul the state's cable franchising process, approving a bill that would allow telecommunications firms to more easily launch digital video services in California. The bill has already passed in the Assembly and a Senate subcommittee, and is expected to be considered in the California Senate later this month. Verizon, which has invested "hundreds of millions of dollars" to build a new fiber-optic network to offer its FiOS TV digital TV service, lauded the vote. "Cable prices have risen 86 percent over the past 10 years, according to the Federal Communications Commission, yet in markets where there is a choice of cable providers, consumers pay 15 percent less for video service, on average," said Verizon West region president Tim McCallion.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/060817/nyth116.html?.v=64
http://www.verizonfios.com