[opendtv] News: Stevens: DTV Bill This Month
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 08:30:08 -0400
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA606639.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP
Breaking News
Stevens: DTV Bill This Month
By Bill McConnell -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/6/2005 3:08:00 PM
Sen Ted Stevens plans to unveil his version of DTV transition
legislation by the end of June and predicts he can quickly move the
bill though the Senate, reconcile his bill with a separate version in
the House and have a final bill ready for the President's signature
in October.
"There will be very little controversy," Stevens, the head of the
Senate Commerce Committee, told Washington communications lawyers
Monday.
Stevens told the Federal Communications Bar Association he can draft
a bill with bipartisan consensus and wide industry support because of
information he and fellow Commerce Committee Co-Chairman Daniel
Inouye are gleaning from a series of "listening sessions" they and
their staffs are conducting with TV industry executives and other
affected parties. Stevens predicted his bill will be similar to draft
DTV legislation floated by his counterpart at the House Commerce
Commerce committee, Rep. Joe Barton.
Like Barton's draft, Stevens predicts his legislation would call for
a "hard" deadline of Jan. 1, 2009, to cut off broadcasters' old
analog signals and require stations to operate digital-only.
He also said Congress must make sure all Americans can obtain
converters necessary to keep their old analog TV sets working when
broadcasters go all-digital.
Stevens said he has not decided how a converter program should work
or how much money the federal government should kick in to subsidize
the cost of boxes because he wants to make sure the cost of the
program--which could range from $500 million to somewhere in the
billions depending how many viewers receive subsidies doesn't exceed
the amount raised from auctioning reclaimed analog channels. (The
funds for subsidizing set top boxes is expected to come from a
portion of the auction's proceeds.)
Stevens also said he would like Congress to approve a standard local
franchise that would allow Bell phone companies to roll out video
without the need for lengthy franchise negotiations with each
municipal government.
A national approach would be preferable even to the alternative the
Bells have been trying, which is to obtain statewide franchises
rather than seek separate ones from 30,000 local governments. "We
ought to have some kind of national solution," he said.
But Cheryl Leanza, telecommunications counsel for the National League
of Cities, said she hopes to take advantage of Stevens' listening
sessions to persuade him not to diminish municipal
governments' powers to negotiate terms of local franchises.
Because of familiarity with their communities, cities are better
positioned to set buildout terms that prevent "redlining," the
serving of upper income areas without providing adequate service to
lower income neighborhoods, she said. "Cities have been instrumental
in ensuring that competition comes to all Americans."
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