The Community Television Association of Maine

The mission of CTAM is to advance democratic ideals by ensuring that people in Maine have access to electronic media. In order for democracy to flourish, people must be active participants in their government, educated to think critically, and free to express themselves.

LD 947 Status Update

The Utilities and Energy committee met on April 29, 2003, in a work session re: LD 222 and LD 947. After some discussion and kindly listening to my remarks, (see below) they voted unanimously "Ought not to pass" for LD947 and they carried LD222 forward to the January session. The Committee recognized the work that CTAM had done in bringing this legislation forward and also referred to the letter from the Maine Municipal Association (MMA) describing what actions MMA would be taking to help their member towns. In a letter to MMA which is forthcoming, the committee will be requiring MMA to provide the committee with confirmation of their proposed activities and will also require MMA to provide the committee with copies of any publications that MMA will be developing to help towns with the franchising process. Because the majority of the committee was reluctant to establish a new state board at this time, the committee felt that it would be in the best interests of everyone to proceed as I have described above. Rep. Berry reminded everyone that LD947 was not dead, "it is just being moved into that drawer over there" and he pointed to a row of drawers that line the side of the room. The message was clear. If the towns need this legislation in the future, it can be re-introducted.

CTAM would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who supported our second legislative effort in 25 years. The first one, in 1978, among other things, required all franchises in Maine to be non-exclusive and to include provisions for one or more Public, Educational and Governmental Channels.

Respectfully Submitted,

Tony Vigue, Legislative Review
Community Television Association of Maine
P.O. Box 2121, South Portland, ME 04116

Phone: 207-767-7615

Address Before Utilities and Energy Committee

Chairman Hall, Chairman Bliss, Distinguished members of the Committee;

I am Tony Vigue, I reside in Standish and work in South Portland. Most of you will recognize me as the author of this legislation.

We, the Community Television Association of Maine, submitted LD947�with diplomacy, involving as many stakeholders in the process as wanted to participate. We are also guilty of a certain amount of �benevolency� on behalf of the smaller towns who are either not aware of, or are financially unable to avail themselves of the resources that a state board of this type could provide.

We are encouraged by the recent announcement by MMA to expand their assistance to member towns in the form of educational materials and work sessions on franchising. However, CTAM stands ready to re-submit a �new and improved� version of this legislation should it become necessary.

In that event, we will probably use less diplomacy, but we will certainly approach the legislature with a new appreciation for the political process that accompanies successful legislation.

We hope that in accepting the MMA offer, this committee will also include some measure of accountability.

Regarding LD222, we do not pretend to speak for Rep. Gerzofsky, however, I would repeat what I said to Rep. Bliss in an e-mail last week. Rate regulation as presently allowed by Federal Law can only produce significant results when applied over several thousands of subscribers. A 1 cent error or increase doesn�t mean much to the few hundred subscribers of a small town, especially when it takes a mountain of paperwork to find it, but it does become significant when it applies to thousands of subscribers in many towns that may be franchised by one cable operator. You will have to decide if this kind of oversight is as important as that which the PUC currently monitors for telcos and power companies.

Thank you for your consideration.

Tony Vigue

An Act to Create a Cable Television Franchise Board (LD 947)

Purpose: This act will provide for the creation of a statewide Cable Television Franchising Authority or �Board�.

Scope: The Board shall be responsible for the review and approval of any new CATV Franchise Application, Renewal or Transfer that is proposed by any cable operator doing business in the State of Maine. Final approval and adoption of such Franchises shall remain with the municipality or municipalities being served.

Objective: The Franchise Board shall regulate the licensing of cable operators and systems while overseeing the interests of both cable operators and cable subscribers. It will create and enforce regulations governing initial franchising, renewal and transfer of cable licenses in addition to providing technical oversight, legal information and outreach to municipalities. It will provide a uniform, standardized procedure for cities and towns to follow during the Franchise process, and will insure that certain Franchise Standards are applied equally to all municipalities regardless of their size or their financial ability to retain legal or technical expertise when reviewing Franchise Proposals.

Appointments: There shall be 7 appointed members to the board representing the following interests: General Public (2), Cable Industry (1), Community Television Association of Maine (1), Maine Municipal Association (1), Municipalities (2- One large, pop. over 15,000, one small, pop. under 15,000)

Appointments shall be made by: The Governor ( 3), Senate (2) House (2)

The general requirements that the Board shall consider when reviewing and approving a CATV Franchise Application, Renewal or Transfer shall include, but not be limited to:

1. Financial soundness and stability, both of the applicant generally and the particular proposal;

2. The proposed service offerings to customers, including the number of channels and the ability and capacity of the system to offer additional varied services in the future, especially the ability to provide Public, Educational and Governmental Access channels with capital funding to support their equipment requirements;

3. The commitment to a construction and in-service schedule with appropriate bonding insurance;

4. The experience and ability of the applicant to run and manage a cable television system;

5. The tariff and the rates proposed to be charged to customers;

6. Proposed consumer policies, particularly re: complaints and problems;

7. Availability of service to maximum number of residences;

8. The technical qualifications of the applicant and the quality of the engineering design and materials to be used in the system;

9. Logical fit with neighboring systems for possible future interconnect.

10. Proposed Franchise Fee amount and schedule for payments.

VII. Funding: The board shall be funded in the following manner:

The board shall be authorized to make an assessment for each fiscal year against each licensee (cable operator) with operating revenues exceeding one million dollars based upon the operating revenues of each licensee derived from sales within the state of any cable television service as shown in the most recent annual report to the division of each said licensee. Said assessment shall be determined and certified by the board so as to produce not more than two hundred thousand dollars in revenue for each fiscal year to be allocated among such licensees in the proportion that each licensee's share of such operating revenues bears to the total of all such licensees in the state during the previous calendar year. The funds produced by such assessment shall be allocated to the administrative, operational, equipment and personnel expenses of the board, subject to appropriation.