Little Rock Leaders Join LULAC and C4CC to Call on Sens. Pryor and Lincoln to Help Arkansas Save $74 Million by Pushing for Cable Competition This Year

Little Rock Leaders Join LULAC and C4CC to Call on Sens. Pryor and Lincoln to Help Arkansas Save $74 Million by Pushing for Cable Competition This Year

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Arkansas residents could save $74 million a year on their cable bills if U.S. Senators Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln help pass a national cable competition bill next month, local leaders learned today from a national consumer advocate.

"Consumers are working hard to pay for gas and other necessities. They could really use a break," said Bob Johnson, president of Consumers for Cable Choice, a national coalition working to inject competition into the nation's cable TV industry. "We hope our senators keep this in mind when they return to work next month."

Johnson, speaking at a community meeting at the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) National Education Service Center in Little Rock, specifically called on U.S. Sens. Pryor and Lincoln to deliver cable savings to all American consumers.

Also speaking up today for cable competition was Dr. Gabriela Lemus, LULAC director of policy and legislation.

"We support cable television competition because of the unlimited educational potential advanced communications services offer to people of all ages -- at home, at school and in the workplace," Lemus said. "We believe that in a competitive environment, these services will flourish."

The U.S. Senate could have enacted a national competition bill in July before it adjourned for its August vacation. The bill, approved in June by the U.S. House of Representatives and a Senate committee, could be voted on by the full Senate as early as September.

Johnson outlined the benefits of injecting competition into the largely monopolistic cable industry, basing his savings on the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies' examination of actual savings realized in Texas, the first state to enact a cable competition law. Texans have enjoyed nearly $600 million in cable savings since September 2005.

The Phoenix Center study said consumers across the country would save more than $7 billion if robust cable competition existed across the U.S. Yearly savings for southeastern region:

* Alabama - $134 million * Mississippi - $76 million
* Arkansas - $74 million * North Carolina - $288 million
* Florida - $626 million * South Carolina - $129 million
* Georgia - $348 million * Tennessee - $177 million
* Kentucky - $124 million * Virginia - $236 million
* Louisiana - $117 million * West Virginia - $54 million

In addition to monthly cost savings, Johnson said competition will do for the cable industry what it does already in other markets: spur innovation and expand service to reach as many customers as possible, including rural residents and small business operators who have long been ignored by traditional, monopolistic cable companies. Johnson said competition in the cable television industry will bring the following:

Lower cable TV costs by:
* Speeding entry of competing cable companies
* Limiting government-imposed fees that are passed on to cable
subscribers
* Limiting service cancellation fees to 1 month
* Requiring cable operators to pay their subscribers $100 when the
operator violates consumer protection or customer service rules

High-speed communication services to rural America by:
* Creating a half-billion dollar annual broadband fund to speed rural
deployment
* Stabilizing the USF and making it sustainable

Access to Internet services for those with disabilities by:
* Requiring that Internet Protocol equipment and services be accessible
to the disabled
* Requiring the FCC to report to Congress regularly on the status of
accessibility
* Including disability rights organizations in Digital TV transition
working groups

Enhanced public safety by:
* Accelerating the availability to first responders of $1B to create
interoperable communications capabilities
* Providing funding for the interoperability of E-911 public safety
systems

Internet Consumer Protection by:
* Creating federal consumer protection and customer service rules for
wireless service, including requirements to make bills easier to
understand
* Implementing a "Consumer Internet Bill of Rights"
* Creating a 120-day complaint procedure at the FCC with fines of up to
$500,000 per day for violations
* Requiring providers to offer "stand-alone" broadband Internet access
* Prohibiting sexually explicit content on the first page of a Web site
or attempts to deceive others into viewing sexually explicit content
* Limiting advertising time during children's programming on cable TV
* Increasing fines for distribution of child pornography
* Increasing civil remedies for victims of the sexual exploitation of
children

About Consumers for Cable Choice http://www.consumers4choice.org/

Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., C4CC is a national alliance of consumer advocacy groups, private citizens -- including Arkansas residents -- who are committed to promoting maximum choice for consumers in cable, video and broadband services. C4CC 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. Mr. Johnson has been advocating for policies that benefit residential and small business consumers for more than 20 years.

About LULAC http://www.lulac.org/

LULAC is the largest and oldest Hispanic organization in the United States and has approximately 115,000 members throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. LULAC advances the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, health and civil rights of Hispanic Americans through community- based programs operating at more than 700 LULAC councils nationwide. The organization involves and serves all Hispanic nationality groups. For more information, call (202) 833-6130.

Media contacts:

Cheryl Reed
C4CC
317-446-5240
teamreed@indy.rr.com

Lizette Jenness Olmos
LULAC
202-365-4553
LJOlmos@LULAC.org

Source: Consumers for Cable Choice

CONTACT: Cheryl Reed, +1-317-446-5240, teamreed@indy.rr.com , for C4CC;
or Lizette Jenness Olmos of LULAC, +1-202-365-4553, LJOlmos@LULAC.org

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

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