Robert Osterhaus Ltr SF 168City Mana~r's Office
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(319) 589-4110
(319) 589-4149 IAX
DUBbXkrUE
March 26, 2001
VIA E-Mail &
1sT CLASS MAIL
robert_osterhaus~legis.state.ia.us
The Honorable Robert Osterhaus
House Chamber
Iowa Capitol Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
Dear Representative Osterhans:
I am writing on behalf of the City of Dubuque to again ask your opposition to Senate File 168,
(previously S.F. 47), which pertains to the granting of competing cable television franchises.
The Iowa Senate passed the bill on March 19 by a vote of 27-21, with Senators Flyrm and
Connolty among those voting "nay". As the Senate was voting, you should have received a
copy of an e-mail from City of Dubuque Cable Franchise Administrator Merrill Crawford to
Senator Mary Lundby. The e-mail offers a number of points regarding incumbent cable
television service providers, potential competitive overbuilders, and the communities they serve,
which along with my January 31 letter explain in detail our concerns with this bill. If you did not
receive a copy of Merrill's e-mail, we will be happy to resend it.
S.F. 168 was introduced at the request of AT&T Broadband and other incumbent cable
operators, as a part of a nationwide coordinated effort to accomplish via state legislation what the
Congress rejected as anti-competitive. Masquerading as a simple set of "level playing field"
requirements in the granting of competing cable television franchises, S.F. 168 is in fact a strong
cable incumbent protection tool, designed to strengthen the monopoly advantage of the first
cable operator in a community.
In Dubuque and across the state, the impact of the bill, if enacted, will be to further inhibit the
entry of competition into local cable and telecommunications markets. It will also ratchet-down
and could eventually eliminate public service requirements and community benefits of existing
franchises such as Public, Educational & Government (PEG) Access channels, free or low-priced
services to schools and libraries, and other elements of previously-negotiated contracts.
The bill takes no account of the fact that the playing field is already tilted strongly in favor of the
incumbent cable operator in nearly every conununity. Forty-eight years of first-hand experience
Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork
The Honorable Robert Osterhaus
March 26, 2001
Page 2
in Dubuque and other American cities has proven that cable is a natural monopoly and that a
second entrant faces severe disadvantages in seeking to compete with a long-entrenched
incumbent. Meanwhile, customer service declines and annual cable subscriber rate hikes
continue to outpace inflation.
Dubuque's twenty-year franchise agreement with (Teleprompter / Group W / TCI) AT&T
Broadband is the midst of renewal negotiations. AT&T's recently-announced intent to sell all of
its Iowa systems to Mediacom further complicates our task of preserving what is good and
improving upon what is substandard in cable television service to Dubuque citizens. We are also
seeking additional competitive providers of cable and telecommunications services to address
unmet needs of local businesses, institutions, and the community as a whole. Despite our best
efforts, we see the "Digital Divide" slowly widening between metropolitan and rural
communities and states.
Enacting a one-sided cable television incumbent protection bill would be especially devastating
not only to our immediate negotiations, but also to the furore prospects of protecting and serving
the interests of Dubuque' s 21,000 cable subscriber families.
S.F. 68 is clearly not an Iowa response to an Iowa problem. Nor will it contribute to a tree "level
playing field" in cable and telecommunications markets. It will benefit one, and only one player,
the existing monopoly cable operator, at the expense of competition, technological advancement,
economic development, and Iowa consumers.
We urge your active opposition to this bill.
Sincerely,
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:jh
Dubuque Legislative Delegation
The Honorable Paul Schem~an
House Chamber
Iowa Capitol Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
email:
paul scherrman~legis.state.ia.us
The Honorable Robert Osterhaus
House Chamber
Iowa Capitol Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
The Honorable Pam Jochum
House Chamber
Iowa Capitol Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
The Honorable Pat Murphy
House Chamber
Iowa Capitol Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
email: robert_osterhause~legis.state.ia.us
email: pam jochum(&Jegis.state.ia.us
email: pat_murphy~legis.state.ia.us