Over 1,500 Michigan Communities Still Without Cable Competition

FARMINGTON, Mich., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Michigan's experiment with deregulation of cable services has failed, according to the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (MI-NATOA), whose member communities previously oversaw local franchise agreements with cable providers.

Michigan's state legislature passed Public Act 480 in 2006. Cable and phone companies promised that the elimination of cable regulation would unleash widespread cable competition and create thousands of jobs in Michigan. Many observers hoped that more competition would reduce prices and improve customer service.

"Communities watched in 2006 as AT&T made promises to the Michigan legislature about lower prices and more competition," recalls Caren Collins, president of MI-NATOA. "Three years later, there is little more than disappointment. Cable prices continue to outpace inflation, and service remains poor. 84% of communities who recently responded to a Michigan Public Service Commission survey said that they had seen no increase in competition at all, and 3% of the responding communities actually reported a decrease in competition. The experiment with cable deregulation is failing by every measure, because widespread, robust competition has not developed and municipalities are powerless."

Residents calling offices: Soon after PA 480 was passed, AT&T began to offer U-Verse video to portions of an estimated couple hundred communities in Michigan -- but the pace of the U-Verse rollout has now slowed dramatically. In the few communities where AT&T U-Verse is available, complaints are that some neighborhoods have it while others do not.

In addition, AT&T has made it costly and difficult for communities and school districts to provide their local public, educational and government (PEG) access channels. Only 18 communities in 3 years have added their signals to the U-verse line-up. There are at least 300 PEG channels in southeast Michigan.

It is impossible to precisely determine where cable competition exists: Lawmakers did not require cable or phone companies to inform any regulator or municipality about where competitive service is actually available. An annual survey conducted by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) allows providers to keep certain information confidential.

Trends in cable's prices and customer service disappointing: According to a study published last year by the University of Minnesota, inflation-adjusted cable prices in Michigan rose by 22% -- the equivalent of nearly 1% for each month since cable had been deregulated in the state. Two dominant cable providers, Comcast and Charter, also continue to perform very poorly, including in a study now appearing in the February 2010 issue of Consumer Reports.

"The Detroit Free Press got it right in an editorial late last summer when it looked at the failures of cable deregulation. The promises of the phone and cable companies have fallen short on every level, including jobs," noted Collins.

To learn more about the deregulation of the cable industry in Michigan, visit http://www.makeCableBETTER.org.

Available for Interview: Caren Collins, president, Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors. Direct dial: (248) 473-2830.

Topics: State of cable competition on the third anniversary of Michigan's deregulation of the cable industry; Michigan communities with the most competition; state-level corrections to improve situation; trends in prices; price differences in areas with cable competition; recent developments in PEG programming.

About MI-NATOA

The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) represents local government jurisdictions, overseeing communications and cable television franchising. The Michigan chapter actively seeks to re-establish the regulation of cable in a manner consistent with federal law.

This release was issued through eReleases(TM).  For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE MI-NATOA