Verizon, Cablevision Claim Victory After N.Y. Franchise Ruling

Sean Mota

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Sep 8, 2003
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From TvWeek.com

By Jay Sherman
Verizon Communications will be required to obtain franchise licenses in the New York municipalities where it plans to offer video service, but does not have obtain those licenses just because it is upgrading its plant to a level where it could offer video, the New York State Public Service Commission ruled Wednesday.

The ruling was in response to a request by Cablevision Systems and more than 100 municipalities in New York that the PSC require Verizon to obtain franchise licenses before it begins construction of a fiber-based network that could handle advanced services such as broadband and video.

Both Verizon and Cablevision used aspects of the ruling to claim victory. Cablevision pointed out that the PSC went on record as saying Verizon will have to obtain franchise licenses in order to offer video, while Verizon highlighted that the Cablevision request was denied.

A central element of the PSC case centered on whether Verizon's replacement of its old copper-wire networks with fiber-optics would require that the company obtain approval from each municipality where the upgrades were being made before construction began.

Verizon argued that the plant upgrades are being made simply to enable the company to offer better voice and broadband services, and that the company never had plans to circumvent the franchise process when it came to offering video services.

"We have always said we will get franchise approval for video," said Verizon spokesman Clifford Lee.

Indeed, Verizon has obtained franchise licenses in six communities throughout the United States so far, though none is in New York.

The issue of franchise fees for the telephone companies' upcoming video offerings has become a hot topic in recent months, with two major phone companies taking a different approach to the issue. While Verizon has indicated it will seek franchise licenses in the communities where it will offer video services, SBC Communications is aggressively fighting any government mandate that it obtain franchise authorizations.

Cable operators have argued that not requiring the phone companies to seek franchises for their upcoming video services puts the phone companies at an unfair advantage to cable companies, which give the communities they service up to 5 percent of their revenues as a fee for doing business in those jurisdictions.

Local communities throughout the United States are becoming more vocal as well, arguing that they will lose out on valuable revenue if the phone companies bypass the franchise route.
 
cablevision is just afraid that they will not be able to rip-off their costumers anymore when verizon starts to offer high speed internet, video, and telephone all in one package which will be cheaper and better quality than cable. Verizon never said they wouldn't get franchise and they are currently working with many towns to obtain these as quick as possible.

I got a letter from my representative for the town of hempstead that said cable competition is Coming from verizon and that they are working hard to give franchise rights to Verizon. I am so excited and cant wait for FIOS.
 
NYdailynews takes on it

TV work OK for Verizon





Verizon can continue building its network for carrying television in the state without first seeking permission from individual cities, regulators said.
The New York Public Service Commission voted unanimously yesterday to reject a March request from competitors that include Cablevision and some local governments to halt Verizon's construction of a new fiber-optic network until the nation's largest phone company received licenses in each city where it was building.

Verizon, however, is continuing to push regulators and local officials in New York and New Jersey to adopt rules that will ease the company's plans to sell TV services.

The company has just six of roughly 10,000 franchises it needs, underscoring challenges of a regulation chief exec Ivan Seidenberg calls the "biggest barrier" to entering the $76.1 billion residential TV market.

Source
 
shappyss said:
I got a letter from my representative for the town of hempstead that said cable competition is Coming from verizon and that they are working hard to give franchise rights to Verizon. I am so excited and cant wait for FIOS.

I got that same letter and while I was happy about the competition for the tv svc, I wasnt happy about a letter I got from the same representative stating that taxes are going up.
 
Insert Reality Check Here

CbandLover said:
However, SBC and Verizon's ALLEGED attempt to bypass poorer communties and build in affluent areas first to get the most money (redlining) is petty and cheap, and hopefully the government will not allow that.

And the reality is:

Sure cable deploys everywhere...but it started in the more densely populated areas, too, just like the telcos are. After all, what good does it do to lay cable (or fiber) in Podunktown if they can't afford to maintain it the subsequent years? They HAVE to generate revenue to offset the capital costs for deploying the fiber. Once the get it "seeded" in the more populous areas, it will spread to the rurals as well. It will take time, just like it did for copper wire, and then cable, to get out there....but it will get out there.
 
Unavailability in rural areas?

I actually live in what you might call a "rural" area. For years our only high-speed access was via sattelite and then during the past few years by wireless. FIOS came down our street about six months ago. I wasn't pleased about this at first because the contractors (Housley Communication) for the burial cut our phone line twice and the water main twice. BUT, FIOS is the best thing since sliced bread! It hasn't gone down once since our install a few months ago and the speed is fantastic. Also, being such a long way from the nearest telephone demarc station we always had noise on our two telephone lines. Since the FIOS install we have been noise free! I can't wait until we get FIOS TV up and going in our area.
 
CbandLover said:
I work for TWC, ....., Cable builds out the whole area it is allowed to serve, via franchise agreements, with the same services available to EVERYONE, not just where the money is. .

This is bullcrap. TWC has the franchise in my area and they want
$25,000 to extend their service to my home. My 40 neighbors
are in the same exact boat.... Stuck on dialup in upstate New York.
No dsl available neither.

I put up a sign by the road on my property: "Time Warner Sucks".

Stop the lying "Cable builds out whole area" it simply aint true.
I'm stuck on dialup because Time Warner sucks.
You suck like Time Warner.

This site is not letting post a url to my link to where
my story has been posted. PM me and I will provide you link.
 
Its funny how cable componies want Verizon to get franchise agreements to offer Video Services but cable companies can offer local phone service without getting the same franchise agreements that Verizon had to get. This goes both ways and to be honest I'm sick of hearing the crap from both sides. I think its best to allow both the cable and telco companies to get into statewide agreements that require them to builtout everywhere in their service area within a certain period of time. The problem is that times have changed and city franchises just aren't need as much anymore like in the past. Now granted the local cities will get part of the overall statewide franchise agreement. Now a company can only pull out of an area if they can prove that there is no chance ever for a profit on their part and I don't see many areas in which that would occur.
 

Is Charter Communication in Glendale, CA going to get Fox Reality Channel?

Colorado Installers Needed ASAP

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