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The Senate Communications and Technology Committee will hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 1247 at 10 a.m. Aug. 8 at Penn State’s Delco campus.
The bill was introduced by state Sens. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, and Anthony Williams, D-8, of Philadelphia, in early June.
Under the bill, there would be a single state-administered uniform agreement for companies that offer a video product. Currently, cable providers must negotiate and enter into separate agreements with the 2,565 municipalities in the state.
"That’s what happens when you have a monopoly," Petersensaid. "People don’t have a choice. This legislation is good for consumers - they’re the ones who win under this legislation."
Verizon spokeswoman Sharon Shaffer pointed out that 1,600 of the municipalities are located in Verizon’s service territory.
Verizon is in the process of negotiating local franchise agreements in Delaware, Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties, she said. "Although we’ve been negotiating for over a year, we’ve managed to get only 22 franchise agreements -- so the process is a long, tedious one," she said.
The upward battle partly explains why Verizon is supporting the legislation, Shaffer said.
Although not currently providing television service in the state, the company will be giving video programming over its brand-new fiber-optic network.
"Right now your average cable network can only carry about 12 additional High Definition TV channels, in addition to what they’re currently carrying," Petersen said. "And then they’re out of room."
Verizon’s FiOs network can carry about 220 HDTV channels in addition to everything else, he said.
This year for the first time, more HDTVs will be sold than traditional televisions because consumers want high-definition programming, which presents a more vivid, detailed picture, Petersen said.
"People are going to ask themselves, who does the current process work for?" Petersen said. "It doesn’t work for the consumers; it works for the companies."
Cable companies contend the legislation would give Verizon an unfair advantage and strip local officials of the ability to tailor the franchise agreements to what’s best for their communities.
A spokesman for the Broadband Cable Association of Pennsylvania in June said its members do not believe that new video franchising laws are necessary and supported the existing system of local cable franchising.
Verizon said local governments will continue to receive the benefits they receive under the current process and will still retain authority to manage their public rights-of-way.
