Another present was placed under the senate bill 649 Christmas tree this week. Language was added that would make it crystal clear that local governments in California can’t require cable companies to pay any fees or obtain any permits, beyond what’s allowed by state law, including particularly the digital infrastructure and video competition act (DIVCA) and SB 649.
It will probably have a relatively minor impact, assuming it’s not interpreted to ban routine construction approvals – building and encroachment permits, for example – which seems unlikely. The major effect will be to definitively squash a few, ongoing local attempts to get around existing restrictions on cable service fees.
According to the bill’s preamble…
This bill would prohibit a city or county from requiring a provider of video service or cable service to obtain any authorization or permit not described above to provide any communications service that is provided by a holder of a state franchise pursuant to [DIVCA]. The bill would prohibit a city or county from requiring the holder of a state franchise to pay any tax, fee, assessment, or other charge not authorized by [DIVCA], this bill, or other state laws.
This new perk for cable companies doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with the core purpose of SB 649, which is aimed at giving wireless companies on-demand access to light poles and other vertical assets owned by cities and counties at below market rates. But now Charter, Comcast and the rest don’t have to feel left out. Their lobbying front organisation in Sacramento – the California Cable and Telecommunications Association – had been raising vague objections to the bill. On the face of it, this small gift seems to a way to make sure they don’t feel left out of a massive giveaway to their colleagues in the wireless end of the business.
In reality, though, the cable industry will see direct benefits from SB 649’s wireless access provisions. Comcast is already rolling out wireless Internet of Things services and, along with Charter, are sniffing around other corners of the industry.
SB 649 has had an easy ride through the senate and, so far, the assembly. The next stop will be the assembly appropriations committee, which will likely put it on hold, until its ultimate fate is decided by legislative leaders in the final days of the legislature’s current session.