|
Arlington has had its own cable-TV studio since 1981. Those who run the station on Park Avenue have felt an increasing connection since 2003, when a local not-for-profit group incorporated. That local ownership could be challenged if a bill supported by Verizon becomes law.
A public hearing was held at the Boston State House on Tuesday, June 5, for a bill aimed at ending municipal control of local cable-TV stations.
A number of Arlington officials, including the Arlington selectmen and leaders oppose the bill. One is Phil McCarthy, an attorney who helps negotiate cable licenses for the town. He wrote in an e-mail May 31:
"Hopefully, the recently granted licenses to Comcast and Verizon will not be impacted as we put a clause in that says that in the event of state and/or federal changes in cable licensing law, the license terms and conditions will survive to the extent allowed by law. . . .
"It is doubtful that any legislation that might be enacted would void current licenses and more likely that changes would apply only to future licenses, but who knows? We covered our tracks as best we could."
Town Manager Brian Sullivan wrote in an e-mail June 4 that selectmen "authorized me to present a letter opposing the bill. I will show the Board the letter this evening and then submit it to the legislative committee tomorrow [June 5]."
The letter dated June 4 is addressed to Sen. Michael Morrisey and Rep. Brian Dempsey, co-chairman, Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. It says:
"On behalf of the Board of Selectmen, I write to express the Town of Arlington’s strong opposition to S. 1975 and H. 3385. Verizon’s proposal to preempt local franchising authority is a blatant assault on local home rule. We are very concerned that Verizon’s legislation would cut municipalities from the cable licensing and renewal process altogether.
"Besides a total preemption of local franchising authority, the Verizon bill would give franchising responsibilities to the state, with only 15 days for municipalities to approve or deny a license and the authority only to review for completeness, without any ability to negotiate.
"Verizon argues that the status quo results in a lack of competition and will result in higher bills for consumers. Quite the opposite is true. Municipal leaders are at the forefront in pushing for competition and lower prices while maintaining quality services for important Public, Educational and Government access (PEG) for their constituents. It should also be noted that federal law prohibits the exclusive licensing of cable providers.
"Verizon has already negotiated with and has been licensed by the Town of Arlington and nearly 50 other communities in the state. The licensing process in Arlington moved in an expeditious and amicable manner. Arlington’s license requires that the entire Town be serviced so that now all our residents will have equal access to this increased competition.
"Maintaining the current licensing process will ensure fair and equitable competition, guarantee that the build-out of cable and video networks reaches all parts of our state, including working class and poorer communities and neighborhoods, and provide adequate consumer, community and taxpayer protections. Those who seek to undermine and preempt municipal authority are really trying to reduce the commitment to these vital principles.
"We are also concerned that under Verizon’s bill, cities and towns would no longer have the capacity to manage the public right of way to protect the public safety and welfare, to prevent conflicts between users of public rights of way, thereby minimizing service disruptions to the public, to protect public investments in rights of way, and to protect both consumer interests and the needs of the community.
"There is no rational basis for casting aside time-tested licensing rules and replacing them with radically abbreviated rules so as to offer 'carte blanche' treatment to one provider over others that have played by the rules and have located successfully in 308 cities and towns.
"As municipal officials who are responsible for implementing licensing and who are accountable to the public, we are in strong opposition to Verizon’s proposed legislation contained in S. 1975 and H. 3385."
Glenn Koenig, involved in Arlington cable efforts since 1975, provided a link to a group that aims to keep the pressure on to oppose the bill, Keep it Local. The informal network lists the following elected officials on its Web site as supporters: Joseph Curtatone, mayor of Somerville; state Sen. Patricia Jehlen; state Rep. Cleon Turner; Kathleen Corey Rahme, Methuen City Councilor.
Rep. Jay Kaufman, who represents part of Arlington, responded in an e-mail and took a more balanced approach:
"The information that you shared will certainly be considered as I continue to wrestle with the issues presented by House Bill 3385, An Act Promoting Consumer Choice and Competition for Cable Service.
"I am torn, finding merits on both sides of the debate. At its root, any bill that makes it easier for a corporation to discriminate against poorer communities clearly has no place in the Commonwealth.
"I am troubled by the idea that the franchising process, which was put into place to give cities and towns the leverage to negotiate with cable companies in order to ensure that they would receive the best service, would be compromised by this bill. However, I have also heard the argument that this legislation would benefit residents of the Commonwealth’s cities and towns by increasing their ability to choose between cable providers."
McCarthy explained the possible impact of this bill:
"The biggest impact to loss of local licensing for Arlington would be upon renewals of all cable licenses and would probably be a death knell for meaningful PEG programming, as we would no longer be in a position to negotiate PEG capital and I-Net support even if the enacted legislation preserved our ability to obtain up to 5% of cable revenue for PEG operating support, which itself is doubtful."
The letters making up the acronym PEG refer to public, education and government.
In Arlington, Comcast and RCN each provides a channel for each of those three kinds of programs. Under the contract signed in March, Verizon is expected to provide PEG channels by late July.
McCarthy noted "many other matters of local concern, such as requiring service to the entire town to prevent their cherry-picking and redlining would be lost to us if they looked to the state for a statewide license."
He said the Mass. Municipal Association, all PEG access corporations and "every community I know of opposes the Legislature adopting the industries-friendly legislation."
The bill is available here >>
Jim Atwood, access director of Boston Neighborhood Network Television , urged those opposing this bill to sign the online petition here >>
The hearing will be in Room A-2 of the Statehouse and is expected to last until 1 p.m. If you want to speak, you have one minute.
Written testimony may be mailed to the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, Room 473B, State House, Boston, MA 02133, or you may e-mail it to Atwood at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
|
"Brainwaves 2008," a return of a three-day multimedia celebration of
cutting-edge music, is set to go Fr...
