Overview

Last session, PennPIRG aggressively opposed the Verizon-backed “Cable Choice and Competition Act” in its iterations in both the House and Senate. I testified before this Committee that the bill was not in consumers’ best interests, since it took away the rights of municipalities to hold a video service provider accountable to consumer protection standards, such as fair requirements that the provider build-out its networks. PennPIRG also argued that franchise agreements were not the barrier to competition that the telecom industry purports, and that industry was simply selling the General Assembly a sad tale of woe in order to sidestep important consumer protections.