Consumers for Cable Choice Goes Across the Country Calling for Video Choice Act Passage and Competition in Cable Television

Consumers for Cable Choice Goes Across the Country Calling for Video Choice Act Passage and Competition in Cable Television

WASHINGTON, July 21 /PRNewswire/ -- National advocacy group Consumers for Cable Choice called on state regulators today to lend strong support to federal legislation that will give cable television consumers the same kinds of benefits they already receive from the telephone industry as a result of competition.

Wrapping up two days of sharing information with leaders in Washington, D.C., Robert K. Johnson, executive director of Consumers for Cable Choice, today turned to state policy makers, urging them to remember consumers -- and speak up for them -- when they gather in Austin, Texas, for their summer meetings beginning Saturday, July 23, 2005.

"Consumers have seen lower prices, more options and better quality as a result of regulatory changes that have allowed competition in local, long- distance and cellular telephone service," Johnson said. "Those same benefits will flow to cable television consumers as restrictions are removed and competitive cable providers emerge as a result of passage of the Video Choice Act of 2005."

State regulators will be considering utility policy issues at the National Association of Regulatory and Utility Commissioners (NARUC) Summer Meetings. Introduction of competition into the cable television market will be discussed on Tuesday, July 26, 2005, by the NARUC Telecommunications Committee.

"State regulators can speak with authority about the benefits consumers realize when monopolistic markets are opened up. They need to weigh in on this issue, and there is no better time for them to do that than next week," Johnson said.

State regulators do not have authority over locally regulated cable television, but, Johnson asserted, their experience with local, long-distance and cellular telephone regulation mirrors the current cable television issue.

"Unlike phone rates, which have been subject to intense consumer competition in the past decade, cable rates have increased steadily since 1996, and service quality complaints persist," Johnson continued. "The Video Choice Act will lead to vast improvement in all areas of price, quality and service for cable subscribers."

If enacted, Johnson said the Video Choice Act will provide immediate benefits to consumers due to explosive growth in new services and feature options that would enable the nation's televisions to be transformed from passive information sharing devices into interactive portals that can enhance their lives. Among the innovations that could come from competition are:

* Easy-to-use parental supervision through remote control units;
* Educational programs that prompt children to respond with answers as
they learn interactively;
* Programs that enable consumers to receive and relay health information
to healthcare experts;
* Programs that prompt special safety messages;
* Do-it-yourself shows that allow consumers to order materials through
their televisions;
* Multi-channel offerings to ethnic and special-interest communities; and
* More local programming and consumer interaction.

The Video Choice Act would:
* Require competitive providers to pay the same franchise fees currently
paid by exclusive territory cable providers;
* Preserve the rights of state and local governments to manage public
rights of way; and
* Require competitive cable providers to offer the same amount of public,
educational, and governmental channels as currently required.

About Consumers for Cable Choice, Inc.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. Consumers for Cable Choice is a national alliance of consumer advocacy groups and private citizens who are committed to promoting maximum choice for consumers in cable, video and broadband services. Its mission is to actively remove the regulatory roadblocks that stand between today's monopolies and reformed government policies that open the channels for fair competition. The alliance uses a combination of education and grassroots advocacy to impact change, which will result in a deregulated and pro-consumer market that stimulates fair price, more choices and better service options in the cable television industry. To learn more about the group, visit http://www.consumers4choice.org/ .

Media Contacts:

Robert Johnson Cheryl Reed or Amy Zucker
Executive Director Synergy Marketing Group, Inc.
Consumers for Cable Choice, Inc. (317) 205-9690
(317) 506-7348 cherylreed@synergy-mg.comjohnson@consumers4choice.orgamyzucker@synergy-mg.com

Source: Consumers for Cable Choice

CONTACT: Robert Johnson, Executive Director of Consumers for Cable
Choice, Inc., +1-317-506-7348, johnson@consumers4choice.org ; Cheryl Reed,
cherylreed@synergy-mg.com , or Amy Zucker, amyzucker@synergy-mg.com , of
Synergy Marketing Group, Inc., +1-317-205-9690

Web site: http://www.consumers4choice.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: to schedule a media interview with Consumers for Cable Choice executive director Robert Johnson, please contact Cheryl Reed or Amy Zucker at +1-317-205-9690. Johnson has been advocating for policies that benefit residential and small business consumers for more than 20 years.

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