The cable wars
It's official. The controversial Video Competition Act has made it through the state legislature and is headed for Easley's desk.
In case you don't recall our coverage of this, the N&R ran this story breaking down the competition issue last month. (Sorry, that's the best link I could find.)
The gist is that phone companies like BellSouth have been hankering to grab a bit of cable's territory - without the hassle of local franchise agreements.
Now, pending the governor's permission, they'll be able to. The bill would take effect Jan. 1.
Here's the story out on the Associated Press wire.
In an e-mail today, local BellSouth spokesman Clifton Metcalf said the company is optimistic about the bill becoming law, considering the overwhelming support it received in the legislature.
This could shake up the business climate for Time Warner Cable, which serves the Triad. Under the bill, Time Warner and other cable companies also would be eligible to make franchise agreements at the state level, once competition entered their coverage areas.
Due to recent automated spamming attacks on our blogs, we are temporarily requiring commenters to authenticate themselves via TypeKey® before posting comments to any News & Record blog in order to prevent denials of service. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.