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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| Re: Tough one said by djrobx  :Does satellite TV need a franchise agreement? ... About the only thing the franchise agreement does is ensure a cheap locals only tier. Bad example.
The franchise agreement between a city and utility is a mutual benefit for both sides. Typically with cable service, the city/town will get added revenue to help fund public interest television, an outlet to air those channels, and the say over the most basic rate tier (aka "lifeline") of cable. The cable company in exchange for their money, bandwidth, and a little bit of oversight, get the use of city right of ways as well as usually a monopoly on cable service.
Satellite doesn't need the right of way nor the monopolistic power that cable companies need/want, so they don't have to agree to pay the local government for the franchise fee.
Verizon's deal is that they already have the right of way with the FIOS lines providing the telephone service. They now want to add a service on top of that line that the original franchise agreement didn't mention. There is where the problem, or at least dispute, lies.
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|  griff1013
join:2002-01-10
Virginia Beach, VA | Re: Tough one Cable companies also have to pay local taxes which sat does not. Cable runs all the city council meetings and such. I am sure they would love to dump all those local channels and save the dbandwidth. | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| Re: Tough one said by griff1013 :Cable companies also have to pay local taxes which sat does not. Which local resources does satellite companies use? Roads? Right of ways? Telephone poles? Satellite companies don't use them, so they shouldn't have to pay for them.
Likewise, Verizon already is paying for them, so should they have to pay AGAIN to use the exact thing that they are already using? It adds no extra infrastructure burden to add CATV to the FIOS service...it's not like it will require another cable other then the one already being provided for telephone service.
Cable runs all the city council meetings and such. I am sure they would love to dump all those local channels and save the dbandwidth. Hopefully they don't RUN the city council meetings, rather they just provide the televising of the meeting. I'm sure they would ditch it if they could, but it's part of their franchise agreement.
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| Re: Tough one Those so called "public access channels" are just so much fluff to buy support for the cable company. Every little whiny interest group gets to produce its own cable show, and often the local cable company runs some "local newsmakers" show which just produces puff pieces about local politicos. It's just free publicity and fawning media about those politicians and interest groups with the pull to get on the show.
Here in Marin County, they pre-empt the last 5 minutes of each half hour of Headline News with a local blurb about this or that local politico. The @$$-kissing is so extreme that you can hardly hear the conversation for the smooching.
Local franchises don't benefit consumers--they keep out competition and increase the costs of distributing video services. They do help the local power structure, and since the cable companies get to pass along the costs and have fewer competitors, they play along.
calvoiper
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Karl Bode
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join:2000-03-02
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| Re: Tough one Again though, you're blaming the politicians for the failure of the agreements....
When Comcast had to go around forging new franchise agreements with each AT&T Broadband market, many towns used the leverage to get areas upgraded, schools and municipal buildings wired, etc......
Some just used it for a money-grab. | |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| Re: Tough one To get areas upgraded, competition without the inhibitions of local franchises would be a better incentive. The only reason Comcast/ATT had to be leveraged into upgrades is that they felt relatively "safe" from competition because of their franchise agreements.
As for the wiring of school or muni buildings, the franchise agreement just serves as a back-door tax increase. These are worthy expenses, but they should be paid for through traditional means, not hidden costs buried in cable rates.
I remain convinced that franchise agreements serve only local political greed and to limit competition.
calvoiper
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