Dozens of central Maine communities are carrying on with their review of Adelphia cable’s buyout plan despite proposed federal rules that could nullify local cable franchise agreements.
“We have 45 days left to respond to this deal,” said local attorney Pat Scully, reviewing the Adelphia deal for a consortium of 100 Maine communities. “I doubt Congress is going to act within 45 days.”
The consortium of 100 Maine communities is reviewing Time Warner’s buyout plan of Adelphia. Those communities, all Adelphia franchisees, have until Oct. 17 to weigh in on the $17.6 billion takeover bid.
Scully said he expects city councils and town boards to begin voting on the deal in the coming weeks.
Meanwhile, Congress is considering two pieces of legislation designed to boost competition among cable companies.
“Effectively, it would eliminate cable franchising at a local level,” Scully said. “We’ve been mostly busy monitoring the Adelphia deal, but I’ve read some of the briefs about it. There’s a lot going on.”
National franchising
The U.S. Senate is considering a bill that gives most of the authority to regulate cable television to the Federal Communications Commission. The House of Representatives and the Senate are considering versions of a second bill designed to streamline franchise agreements at the local level.
Together, they make it easier for new cable companies to compete, according to backers.
“This lets more than a single cable company provide service,” said Nick Bouknight, spokesman for FreedomWorks, a conservative advocacy group.
Individual cable companies negotiate deals with cities and towns now. The cities let the companies dig up streets and put down cable lines in exchange for fees, cable access for educational and local government programs and some say in programming.
“The problem is that now there are 30,000 cable franchises in this country,” Bouknight said. A national company hoping to compete must negotiate different agreements with each city.
“That takes time and that takes money,” he said.
Opponents say the bills hurt individual cable consumers.
“If the company comes in and digs up your yard and leaves an open pit, who do you complain to?” asked Libby Beaty, executive director of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors. That group represents local governments on telecommunications issues.
Cities usually have some authority written into franchise agreements. That would change if the bills become law.
“Your only recourse now would be to contact the FCC if you have a problem,” Beaty said. “The FCC is lousy at that. They don’t have the resources to manage local problems.”
Fees
The legislation would also change how franchise fees are collected. Currently, cities collect a percent of total revenues. Lewiston and Auburn each collect 2.5 percent of the local revenues from Adelphia and Oxford Networks. One percent is dedicated for Great Falls TV. The rest goes to the city. That amounted to $97,000 in revenue to the city of Lewiston and $74,000 to the city of Auburn in the last fiscal year.
Local governments could only recover the costs of having the cable lines on their property under the proposed legislation.
“We don’t know just how much that would be, but it would be a lot less,” Scully said.
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