FTTH Council: Streamlined video franchising now covers over half the U.S.

JUNE 26, 2007 -- Thanks to a recent wave of legislative activity in state capitals across the country, more than half of Americans now live in states with new, streamlined video franchising laws, according to the Fiber-to-the-Home Council (search for the FTTH Council). The council hailed the trend as a victory for consumer choice in cable television and Internet services, as well as a boost to deployment of next-generation, high-bandwidth networks across the country.

Ohio's governor signed that state's video franchising bill on Monday, making Ohio -- with 11.4 million inhabitants -- the 15th state to enact such legislation and bringing to 156.9 million the number of Americans living in states with streamlined video franchising laws. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the total population of the country to be approximately 302 million; using Census Bureau figures, the council puts the percentage of U.S. residents with streamlined video franchising at 51.9%.

The new laws generally make state governments the only franchising authority for video services, which the council says ends time-consuming and expensive negotiations with municipalities and streamlines market entry for companies offering video services that compete with those offered by incumbent cable providers.

According to the FTTH Council, much of this new competition will come from video and data service providers offering much higher Internet transmission speeds via direct fiber-optic connections all the way to homes.

"What this trend shows is that state legislatures see the need to clear the way for the introduction of new video and data services to be offered to consumers," said Joe Savage, FTTH Council president. "They know that the goals of raising service levels, expanding bandwidth, and suppressing prices are much more likely to be achieved through robust competition among providers than through local government regulation of monopoly enterprises.

"We expect many more states will see the benefits of this competition and jump on the statewide video franchising bandwagon over the next couple of years," he said.

Last month, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, and Florida enacted statewide video franchising legislation, as governors there signed bills into law. Missouri enacted its video franchising law in March. In all, 15 states -- including Texas and California -- have enacted statewide video franchising laws since the trend began three years ago. Similar legislation has passed the Illinois legislature and is awaiting the governor's signature, and bills are under consideration in several other states.

Savage pointed to a recent study, commissioned by the FTTH Council, showing that after a statewide video franchising law was passed in Texas, video-enabled fiber-to-the-home connections in the state grew at a much faster rate than in the rest of the country.

"There's no doubt that these new laws are going to have an enormous, positive impact on the deployment of fiber-optic networks," said Savage. "Not only will this mean better home entertainment for consumers, but the resulting build-out of fiber to homes will help them keep pace with the rapid growth of high-bandwidth Internet applications and technologies."

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