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from: Times Reporter

Don’t mess up cable TV

The Ohio Senate approved a bill this week that would radically alter the way cable companies operate in Ohio.

Senate Bill 117 would create a state franchising system for cable systems and end local agreements with individual companies.

This bill is the brain-child of A.T.&T., which wants to get into the cable business. The telecommunications giant doesn’t want to have to negotiate with scores of municipalities to enter the business, so it has been pushing similar measures in other states as well. To promote the bill in Ohio, it hired an army of lobbyists to swarm over Columbus.

S.B. 117 is supposed to create competition in the cable industry, promote economic development and create jobs. Count us among those who are dubious about this piece of legislation.

The bill is opposed by the Ohio Municipal League and the Consumers Union, which publishes Consumers Reports.

The municipal league says the measure would allow cable companies to abandon their franchise agreements, costing municipalities money.

The Consumers Union says the bill lacks enforcement teeth. The measure specifically says that the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Department of Commerce have no authority to regulate the cable industry.

No regulation at all? Now that’s a crazy idea.

Further, the Consumers Union says the bill would allow cable companies to cherry-pick which communities they want to serve, meaning that inner cities and poorer rural areas might be left without service at all.

While we oppose S.B. 117, we’re not endorsing the job Time Warner Cable has been doing in Tuscarawas County. We’re received numerous complaints this week to our “30 Seconds” line about scrambled signals that have made it nearly impossible to watch the Cleveland TV stations. Time Warner needs to fix this problem.

We’re all for competition and improving cable service in Ohio, but S.B. 117 wouldn’t benefit consumers, just A.T.&T. This bill now moves to the Ohio House. We hope they have the good sense to vote it down.