According to USA Today, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is considering using a provision in the 1992 Cable Act to expedite the granting of RBOC video franchises by local governments. Section 621(a)(1) of the Act states that local franchising authorities “may not unreasonably refuse to award an additional competitive franchise” for video.
USA Today cites a written statement from Martin:
“Several weeks ago I asked the staff to explore what the commission can do to ensure that local authorities are not unreasonably refusing to award additional competitive licenses” for video, he said…Granting additional franchises, he added, “would promote competition and stimulate broadband deployment…I intend to do whatever I can to help meet the president’s goal of ‘universal and affordable access for broadband technology’ by 2007.”
Martin’s statement notwithstanding, its not at all clear that the typical franchising delays the RBOCs face in thousands of communities across the country will amount to “unreasonable” refusal to grant a franchise.
“It’s smart for the chairman to use the FCC’s bully pulpit to warn the cities against log rolling the Bells” on broadband, says [Blair] Levin, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker in Washington [and an assistant to former FCC chairman Reed Hundt]. “The only question is at what point does he think he should intervene.”
Mitch Shapiro at 3:51 PM|Comments(0)
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