The Alliance proposes that telecommunications legislation in this Congress specify that all providers of video programming provide capacity for PEG access video programming, and services, facilities, and equipment for production of programs, when appropriate franchise authorities require it. State, local and tribal governments would have access to the reserved capacity for purposes of transmitting video programming. Schools, libraries, and public television stations would also be eligible to make use of the reserved capacity. The Alliance endorses legislation which will assure the future of PEG access in a competitive telecommunications marketplace. Such access is easily affordable by a profitable industry.
Competition promotes efficiency and produces more varied choices for consumers.
Moreover, converging communications technologies have blurred many of the distinctions which once existed between types of telecommunications services, and between the entities that provide them. Data, voice, and video are now all being transmitted over telephone lines, through the airwaves, via coaxial cable, and on fiber-optic networks. Telephone companies are providing video services, cable operators are providing telephone services, electric companies are providing electronic databases, and so on. It is essential for telecommunications reform legislation to recognize that all like services must be regulated in a consistent manner, regardless of actual or constructive ownership. The Alliance believes that the streets, highways and roads of the nation are the property of the residents of local communities.