Plus, it's a good way to make contacts in the television business, says Dela Grantham, 16. The MediaOne initiative is the kind of benefit that many communities have come to take for granted from their local cable television franchises. Cable operators routinely provide the public free access to local cable channels, set aside channels for local government, and wire schools and libraries for high-speed access to the Internet. Dispensing such goodies is good public relations for cable companies, which must apply periodically for renewal of their local franchises and depend upon the good graces of local government. Cable operators say they are committed to community service, but the cost of their programs could put them at a competitive disadvantage.
Newcomers are exempt from expensive government regulations and franchise obligations.
Either cable providers should be freed from their franchise requirements, or their competitors should face them too, she says. Falk stops short of calling for revisions to federal legislation affecting the industry, but she does say cable providers want to see the distinction between them and their competitors dropped in future legislation. The cable industry got its start in 1948, serving rural areas beyond the reach of the television stations' broadcast signals. In the early days, cable companies mainly retransmitted the networks' content. Stepping in to protect the networks' intellectual property, the Federal Communications Commission stifled the spread of cable for many years.