Association pursues claims against SB 5 in state court
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2006
Contact: Kirsten Voinis
or email
kvoinis@austin.rr.com
(512) 922-7141
Austin - The Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association (TCTA) has filed a second lawsuit - this time in a state district court - to challenge a recently enacted state telecommunications law as discriminatory against cable operators and in violation of the Texas Constitution.
"True competition doesn't exist when businesses offering the same services are treated differently, and consumers only benefit when there's true competition," said Tom Kinney, chairman of the TCTA board and president of Time Warner Cable-Austin Division. "SB 5 violates the Texas Constitution because it grants special favors to telephone companies and other new video providers while forcing cable companies to continue to operate at a disadvantage."
Senate Bill 5 was passed in August during the second special session of the 79th Texas Legislature.
TCTA in September filed a similar claim in federal district court. An amended complaint, a motion for summary judgment and a brief in opposition to defendants' motions to dismiss were filed recently with the court, the U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas, Austin Division.
"The Texas Cable and Telecommunications Association is pursuing every avenue possible to overturn SB 5 because we strongly believe it denies, without justification, cable operators' rights that are protected by the Texas Constitution," Kinney said.
According to the lawsuit, TCTA's cable-operator members have suffered and will suffer injury, including, but not limited to, actual and potential loss of revenues, damage to reputation and goodwill, and other harm. In particular, state-issued franchises will result in an uneven competitive playing field, thereby unfairly and unlawfully impairing incumbent cable operators' ability to compete. In addition, SB 5 imposes various obligations on incumbent cable operators that entail additional out-of-pocket costs.
TCTA (www.txcable.com) is the primary trade organization for cable operators in Texas. |
