It's pretty obvious that Denver is no longer the capital of cable. Hometown RBOC Qwest (NYSE: Q), long a bystander in the video business, has reportedly taken a proposal to launch a new video service that would compete against cable television to Colorado lawmakers.
Qwest, like just about every video provider in the world, would like franchising to be handled at the state level rather than every local yokel having a say. It floated the idea three years ago and watched it sink, but now, while awaiting finalization of its merger with CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL), it's at it again.
"The model that we have always advocated is the same that was applied to the telephone market--new entrants aren't constrained by the same obligations" that incumbents have to follow, Chuck Ward, Qwest president for Colorado said in a Denver Post article.
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