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FCC chairman 'sympathetic' to fewer video rules By Justin Hyde CHICAGO (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Tuesday he was "sympathetic" to the arguments of large local telephone companies that want fewer legal barriers to launching video services. The comments from FCC Chairman Kevin Martin came shortly after the chairman of Verizon Communications Inc. said the company would not "redline," or discriminate against poorer customers to the advantage of wealthier ones, as it rolls out its video service. Both Verizon and SBC Communications Inc. are spending billions of dollars to launch residential video services over the next 12 months. They see the move as essential to compete with cable companies targeting their customers with telephone and high-speed Internet services. Each company says their plan could be threatened by regulations requiring them to get permission for selling video services from many of the cities they're targeting, a process that can take years. Verizon says that of a possible 10,000 franchise agreements with cities, it had so far reached six. "I'm sympathetic to a lot of the concerns that have been raised," said FCC Chairman Kevin Martin in a discussion during the Supercomm telecommunications trade show in Chicago. "I think the prospect of having additional competitors in the video service business is important, and we need to figure out how to facilitate that as much as possible," he added. Earlier in the day, Verizon Chairman Ivan Seidenberg said that cable companies had used the threat of redlining as a "political tool" against Verizon and SBC, which want to compete against cable companies but without many of the legal restrictions. "We're happy to commit that when we go in and deploy we're not going to redline," Seidenberg told reporters at the trade show. Many franchise agreements require cable operators to offer service to an entire city or town. Verizon and SBC contend their networks don't follow city boundaries, and that demanding service would burden them with too much cost. Cable companies and some lawmakers have also accused SBC and Verizon of trying to target wealthier customers and ignore poorer areas.
http://www.microsite.reuters.com
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