Revised Franchising Proposal Woos Missouri's Cable Industry

REVISED FRANCHISING PROPOSAL WOOS MISSOURI'S CABLE INDUSTRY
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 1/29, AUTHOR: Michael Martinez]
The video-franchising debate has returned to Missouri, and a key player has switched sides. Almost a year after killing his own bill on the issue, state Sen. John Griesheimer has introduced legislation to allow for streamlined entry into the state's video services market. He authored a similar measure last year that appeared to be on the fast track for the governor's desk before it died in the spring. But this time Griesheimer already has won over the chief opponent of last year's bill: the state's dominant cable providers. Competing telephone firms looking to offer new video services have been seeking franchising reform measures on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures. Existing cable firms have typically defended their home turf by objecting to proposals allowing new entrants to obtain statewide deals and to bypass disparate local franchise rules. Cable firms in Missouri have embraced Griesheimer's latest proposal, S.B. 284, because it would let them abrogate their existing contracts to also seek statewide deals.
http://www.njtelecomupdate.com/lenya/telco/live/tb-PUNE1170168545700.htm...