IP Democracy: Ad & Lobbying Wars Escalate on Telco TV Franchising

Telephony’s Carol Wilson picks up on a budding TV ad war between telco and cable interests on the issue of telco TV franchising.

Wilson provides some voice-over snippets from both sides’ TV commercials. As she puts it, the telco-sponsored ads “promote a feel-good approach, telling consumers that telecom companies are ready to bring advanced TV services to their doors, ‘as soon as Congress updates our telecom laws. TV Freedom – now that’s the future, faster,’ the ad voiceover states.” Wilson contrasts this message with that of the cable-backed ads:

The cable industry is taking a harder line, however, in commercials that accuse AT&T and Verizon of lying and creating phony consumer organizations to promote their cause. “Why do they really want to change the law?” one cable industry ad voiceover asks. “To raise your phone rates and be able to pick and choose what neighborhoods to serve.”

My sense is that this will be a tough issue for cable to win, both in Congress and among consumers. And, even if legislation fails to gain traction in Congress, the RBOCs have a backup at the state level, where they’ve long had legislative success, often justified in large part by the promise of new jobs. In this case they can push both the jobs issue and the benefits of expanded consumer choice. According to a recent WSJ story:

For now, the phone companies’ best bet may be in state capitals instead of on Capitol Hill. Legislation to streamline the franchise-approval process for phone companies passed in Texas last year, is gaining traction in three statehouses and is in early stages in a handful of others.

Posted by Mitch Shapiro on February 17, 2006 2:00 PM to IP Democracy