Phone Company Video Franchising
Has Verizon, AT&T or another telephone company asked your community for a video franchise? Are you prepared to negotiate the franchise and deal with the complications that the incumbent cable operator can create?
Phone company franchising has become one of the hottest topics in the communications industry. In many cases, telcos have tried to eliminate local governments from the cable franchising process by advocating the passage of new laws at the state and federal level (Our firm is strongly opposed to such proposals: see FORCED FRANCHISING: WHY THE TELEPHONE INDUSTRY'S CALL FOR 'SHALL ISSUE' FRANCHISING SHOULDN'T BE ANSWERED (national whitepaper authored for the International City/County Management Association, November, 2006)). While telephone companies prefer for cable franchising to be administered at the state or federal level, the traditional process (which requires a franchise to be issued by a local government) still remains the standard in most states.
We surveyed the International City/County Management Association's membership in 2006. Poll responses confirmed that communities are confronted by a number of difficult issues when they negotiate a video franchise with a phone company. Telephone company intransigence during negotiations, long gaps between negotiation sessions, and the need to respond to the phone company's public campaign for a video franchise were all cited as common problems.
Our cable and communications practice group is uniquely qualified to help you manage and negotiate a video franchise with a phone company. Our previous work with the ICMA has given our firm an exceptional understanding of the strategies employed by phone companies during franchise negotiations. Our firm also maintains an extensive library of video franchise agreements the phone companies have offered or executed in other communities – this provides our clients with a great advantage when analyzing whether certain phone company offers should be accepted.
We can help you navigate the many challenges associated with phone company franchising. Call us at (248) 723-0426 or fill in the "Contact Us" section on the firm's homepage and we will get in touch with you soon.