roundtable: Cable-Telecom. Ordinance Adoption "War Stories"?

roundtable: Cable/Telecom. Ordinance Adoption "War Stories"?

Cable/Telecom. Ordinance Adoption "War Stories"?

ENKE@delphi.com
Sun, 25 Jun 1995 01:26:40 -0400 (EDT) 

Date: Sun, 25 Jun 1995 01:26:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: ENKE@delphi.com
Subject: Cable/Telecom. Ordinance Adoption "War Stories"?
To: roundtable@cni.org
Message-Id: <01HS3SRZSYE08YB6E8@delphi.com>


     The county I work for as an assistant county attorney finds 
itself right in the middle of the building of the NII and of the 
telecommunications wars between the cable industry and the telcos.  
Accordingly, in the last year, it has had to rethink its traditional 
passive stance towards telecommunications including conventional cable.  

     The first concrete step we are taking is to revise our traditional 
cable ordinance into a "Multichannel Videoprogramming Distribution 
Ordinance".  On June 13th, our Board of County Commissioners, after 
being briefed, authorized a full adoption hearing on July 25th.  By 
July 25th, the parameters of this year's federal legislation should 
be clear.  Florida's governor just allowed the state's new 
telecommunications law to go into effect without his signature.   

     COMMENTS FROM OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL regarding their 
experiences with recent ordinance adoptions would be greatly 
appreciated.  Our main cable operator is Time-Warner.  Other operators 
are TCI and CVI.  Adelphia/Telesat has commenced the application process 
for permission to operate, as well.

     In case comments are not of general interest to this list, please 
contact me -- Harlan Wright, Assistant County Attorney -- at my Email 
address:  ENKE@DELPHI.COM or at (407) 321-1130, Ext. 7254 or fax me 
at (407) 330-9594.

     A general description of the proposed ordinance revision may be 
helpful.  To the extent federal and state law and facts will permit, 
we will extend the scope of the ordinance to cover wireless cable, 
DBS, non-common carrier VDT, VIPs, etc.  However, the ordinance does 
not address interactive broadband networks, an issue which is being 
addressed by the County separately.  You may already know that 
Time-Warner is conducting its FSN pilot project in Seminole County. 

     We live in an anti-regulatory era.  The ordinance seeks to 
protect subscribers' interests, as well as the County's, not through 
traditional New Deal government regulation, but rather through focusing 
on the County's role as a landowner, granting licenses/permits for use 
of its rights of way, and as a contractor with the MVD providers for 
the benefit of our residents and subscribers as third parties.    

     Accordingly, the revision seeks to simplify our currently very 
detailed ordinance.  It especially reduces the number of extremely 
detailed technical regulations in favor of more general technical 
service goals including the "most favored nation" standard.  Conversely, 
the revision strengthens reporting and liquidated damages provisions to 
make the simpler technical and customer service provisions more 
enforceable.  The revision also requires greater system capacity in 
terms of the numbers of channels carried and a greater ability of 
operators to  handle current or forthcoming technological developments.  
Finally, the revision broadens the definition of gross revenues, 
tightens reporting requirements and strengthens liquidated damages 
provisions regarding the collection of fees.
     
Harlan Wright
<enke@delphi.com>

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