In a final report to the Missouri Legislature delivered Thursday,...
In a final report to the Missouri Legislature delivered Thursday, the state public service commission stuck closely to preliminary conclusions about the impact of the state’s 2007 Video Services Providers Act. The commission was able to arrive at “limited…
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findings” about the law’s impact, based on industry data, the regulator said. They include a tally of 27 entities providing video service through 656 state franchises as of June 1. Those franchises “correspond to 486 distinct political subdivisions or 45 percent of all political subdivisions in Missouri,” the regulator said. As of June 1, video service was not being provided in 56 franchise areas. Among franchise areas, 320 had competition from wireline video service, while 336 did not, it said. Franchise holders spent more than $123 million providing video service in the state in the 12 months preceding Thursday, the commission said. In that period, holders paid nearly $24 million in franchise fees to political subdivisions, it said. Based on its analysis, the commission does not recommend that legislators revisit the law, it said. However, if the Legislature does so, it should provide the commission with guidance on the content to appear in future reports, require video providers to maintain and produce certain information for use in those reports, kill a requirement that the commission post franchise fees and order that, if a franchise for a given area is not exercised within “a reasonable time period,” it be deemed null and void, the commission said.