American Conservative Union Supports House Move Toward Consumer Choice

American Conservative Union Supports House Move Toward Consumer Choice

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Bill Lauderback, Executive Vice President, American Conservative Union today made the following statement:

"It appears that the House Energy and Commence Committee is ready to introduce the cable TV establishment to the American system of free enterprise. The introduction would come via the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act which the committee has in mark-up today.

"The COPE Act would finally bring meaningful competition to the cable market by eliminating the archaic local video franchise regulations which have insulated incumbent providers from the realities of a free market for decades. These local franchise regulations have preserved a monopoly business model that has behaved in the classic monopoly manner, exploiting captive consumers with unconscionably inflated prices and indifferent service.

"COPE would replace the labyrinth of 30,000 local video franchise agreements with one national agreement that would allow any new competitor or incumbent cable provider to offer service anywhere in the country. Since the market we know as cable has evolved into a broader market for broadband services, competition is in the national interest as well as in the interest of consumers.

"A vibrant, competitive market will attract the kind of consumer broadband infrastructure investment already being made by new competitors in areas where they have been allowed to enter the market. This investment must be encouraged because America has allowed itself to sink to a ranking of 14th in the world in terms of consumer broadband infrastructure.

"As the Committee strips away the competition-impeding local franchise regulations, we congratulate its members for not further opening a 'Pandora's Box' of new and unnecessary regulations around the false issue of 'network neutrality.' This issue is a thinly disguised attempt to convince Congress to regulate advanced on-line services that haven't been invented yet to correct problems that don't exist. Whatever final telecom legislation Congress eventually passes, we would hope that it would focus on video choice and not be weighed down by issues such as new regulations that would compromise the principle of free enterprise."

Source: The American Conservative Union

CONTACT: Bill Lauderback of American Conservative Union,
+1-703-836-8602

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