Texas Bill Raises Open-Access Fears
By LINDA HAUGSTED -- Multichannel News, 3/26/2001
Operators are warily eyeing a Texas bill that some lobbyists said could cause the biggest open-access nightmare to date.
MSO executives who've read the bill (HB 1400)-now before the House State Affairs committee-called it an attempt to regulate cable as a public utility. But professional lobbyists believe the current draft has "something for everybody to hate," including cities, building owners and telecommunications giants Verizon Communications and SBC Communications.
As a result, they predict the bill will fail, but note that it could be whittled down to a single-issue measure forcing cable operators to open their high-speed data networks to unaffiliated Internet-service providers.
Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association director of government relations Kathy Grant said the bill's extensive nature appears secondary to lawmakers eager to act on open access.
The measure has yet to be scheduled for a full hearing, Grant said last week, and that delay is good news for the cable industry. Lobbyists also hope redistricting efforts will divert the Texas Legislature's attention later this year.
In the meantime, the trade association is collecting data on cable operators' infrastructure investments in the state to back its contention that upgrades are occurring without regulatory interference. Such a move should be part of the grassroots lobbying effort against the bill, said lobbyists.
AT&T Broadband has spent $300 million to upgrade its Dallas network, said MSO vice president of government affairs for Texas Vaughn Aldredge.
Aldredge said HB 1400 is "a dangerous bill. If it's cut down to open access [alone], it's passable."
Time Warner Cable has spent $1.4 billion in Texas since 1996, said Southwest division vice president of government and public affairs Susan Patten.
After an access bill was defeated in Texas last year, Time Warner launched a statewide, employee-funded political action committee, using donations and voluntary payroll deductions to build a war chest.
Employee "ambassadors" are assigned to each of the 35 representatives and 10 senators from districts served by Time Warner.
Separately, cable lobbyists are seeking amendments that would make a bill promoting rural subsidies for network infrastructure more cable-friendly. HB1736 would create a telecommunications infrastructure fund designed to bring high-tech services to communities with populations of under 25,000.
Currently, the bill targets small telephone companies. If they are unable or unwilling to launch data services, then a city could take up the project and tap the fund. The city could then decide whether it wants to partner with a cable operator.
"I'd like to see us moved up that list," Grant said.
The cable association's small-system members want to see a bill with incentives for partnerships, especially ones that would share the cost of bringing a T-1 phone line to a community to enable data delivery.
