Colorado's transportation and energy committee voted 8-4 to "postpone indefinitely Qwest's bill for a state-wide franchise system, that would have enabled the service provider (and other new entrants) to skip the cumbersome process of inking franchise agreements with every local municipality. The cable companies had to go through that process when they began to launch their services. Philadelphia-based Comcast was on hand to lobby the group to oppose the bill, which they did. Lawmakers echoed Comcast's public statements on the bill, saying they feared Qwest would cherry-pick the wealthier neighborhoods in order to maximize profit. The officials also were not keen on the proposal's effect on local governments' ability to regulate which telecom services are best for their communities. Other IPTV service providers, like AT&T and Verizon, have been pushing similar legislation elsewhere to get their pay television services on the move. Some Republicans who backed the bill said its rejection guarantees that cable TV consumers will be hit by another 7 percent increase on their cable bills.
For more on Qwest:
- read this article from the Rocky Mountain News