House approves bill allowing Bells to offer TV

In the new era of broadband telecommunications, traditional phone companies and cable companies which operate on entirely separate and disparate networks are now butting heads. 

Both phone and cable companies moved into the Internet providing access with DSL and cable-broadband, respectively. 

The onset of VOIP technologies though, gave cable companies (i.e., Comcast and Time Warner) the upper hand by allowing cable operators to offer a 'triple-play' of video, Internet, and phone service. This detracted greatly from traditional phone operators' ability to compete since they were only providing phone and DSL -- although some phone operators had additional revenue from cellular services.

The Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (COPE) which passed in the House of Representatives by 321 to 101 votes, re-levels the playing field for telephone operators.

Companies such as AT&T and Verizon have been forced to go town-to-town and negotiate franchise rights with each individual municipality to offer pay-for-video services.

The COPE bill changes the franchising from the municipal level to a national level for the Bells with municipalities able to collect 5% from pay-TV providers.

Now AT&T and Verizon are positioned to offer their own 'triple-play' packages of video, Internet, and phone.  Interestingly enough, Verizon will be in a unique position to offer a quadruple play of video, Internet, phone, and cellular services.

Time Warner shareholders, gear up for more competition.