By Dan McCue
Staff Writer

A new state law will make it easier for telephone companies to compete with cable service providers in South Carolina.

The measure, which was signed into law by South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford on May 23, effectively ended the decades-old practice of television service providers having to negotiate individual franchise agreements with each of the state’s 240-plus municipalities.

Instead, they’ll work out a single franchise agreement with the state, which will then pass on franchise fee to local municipalities.

“This will greatly speed up our ability to get new technology and services to the consumer,” said Hank Fisher, executive director of BellSouth, South Carolina. “Best of all, it streamlines the regulatory process while ensuring that the local municipalities continue to receive all the franchise fees to which they are entitled.”

Backers of the bill as it made its way through the General Assembly, maintained that revising the current system of regulation for cable services would relieve consumers of unnecessary costs and burdens, encourage investment and promote deployment of innovative offerings that provide competitive choices for consumers.

Additionally, these supporters said, it is in the consumers’ best interest for cable franchises to be non-exclusive, and that requests for competitive cable franchises not be unreasonably refused.

Adoption of similar legislation in Texas has touched off something of a price war, with traditional cable companies and telephone companies offering customers deep discounts to try or retain their services, according to published reports.

The law comes at an auspicious time for the telephone and computer service provider, which is currently completing its merger with AT&T. Although BellSouth has long had a relationship with DirecTV, it is poised to roll out a new service called Internet protocol television.

The digital technology, which among other things will allow viewers to choose the camera angle from which they view sports and entertainment events—assuming there’s a camera onsite to capture the images—is expected to debut in South Carolina next year, where the company will compete with Comcast in the Lowcountry and Time Warner in the Upstate.

“It’s basically video over broadband, will include all the traditional television services and then some” Fisher said. “For instance, if you avidly watch golf, you may be able to actually choose which golfer you want to follow.

“We’re also currently experimenting with all kinds of picture within a picture technologies,” he said.

BellSouth is currently testing the technology—and the market for it—in the Atlanta area. AT&T has already announced plans to roll the technology out in 15 of the markets it serves later this year.

“It’s hard to say what effect the merger will have on where and when the service is offered, but it should be a fairly easier transition, ” Fisher said. “After all, we already have the infrastructure for broadband in place in South Carolina. It’s just a matter of beefing up those services.”

Dan McCue is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dmmcue@charlestonbusiness.com.

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