Bill Gives Phone Cos. Access to Cable TV Markets in Va.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Legislation that allows telephone companies access to Virginia cable television markets won easy final passage on Monday.

The bill passed the House of Delegates without debate on a 93-5 vote, sending it to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for his consideration.

As passed, the bill represents a compromise between telephone providers such as Verizon, which dominates the Virginia market, and cable companies.

Initially, cable giants such as Comcast opposed the bill on grounds that it would give Verizon an advantage by allowing telecom newcomers to stake out only the most affluent areas to offer television services.

Cable lobbyists complained that the bill would strand cable companies in old franchise agreements localities had granted. Several localities also complained that it weakened their authority over rights of way along their roads and streets.

The compromise expedites traditional phone service companies' entry into the home television programming business. But it forces them to expand their networks to certain levels in local franchise areas to prevent them from cherry-picking the best markets.

The final version of the bill, brokered in part with help from the Kaine administration, ensured that neither the cable industry nor the phone companies got all they wanted, said Robert W. Woltz Jr., president of Verizon Virginia.

"...But the end result is one Verizon believes will stimulate competition, increase consumer choice and provide localities with continued control over their rights of way," Woltz said in a written statement.

Verizon plans to compete against cable companies to provide television and high-speed Internet service through new fiber-optic cables.

The bill had cleared the Senate on a 37-1 vote Thursday.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)