Anti-Consumer Cable Bill Becomes Law

Gov. Charlie Crist recently signed legislation to give powerful phone companies a leg up in the cable market.

Florida PIRG opposed the legislation, citing concerns about the customer service record of the phone companies and the lack of competition in both the telephone and cable markets.

“Every major public interest group working on telecommunications policy in the country believes that the final version of this bill falls far short of what is required to promote meaningful competition that will deliver lower prices, more competition, and higher quality service to all consumers,” said Florida PIRG Staff Attorney Aminah Fazlullah.

Florida PIRG worked with legislators and allies to make this a pro-consumer bill. But lawmakers gutted critical anti-discrimination enforcement provisions during the final weeks of the legislative session and passed a bill that offers no guarantee of rate relief or services while threatening public access and educational programming.

“This bill reverses Florida’s advances in distance learning, effectively reducing students’ access to educational technology and widens the digital divide,” said Ann Goldenberg of the Tampa Educational Cable Consortium.

The governor has said that he will work with consumer groups to address these problems next year.