The Philadelphia City Council voted unanimously to approve a Verizon FiOS franchise agreement that will allow Verizon to offer fiber-based digital TV, voice, and Internet to Philly's 600,000 residents. Verizon will spend $1 billion to build out the network which will offer HDTV channels, voice, and high-speed Internet.City Council members said the deal was "not perfect" and they tried to push for more minority contractor involvement. Now how is it that a City Council has the right to demand who a company hires? There are already state and federal anti-discrimination laws on the books, so why the hell do companies have to answer to some local city council mafia? Obviously, Verizon wants the business and they have to suck-up to this local city council if they want to be granted the franchise.
The vote taken yesterday gave Verizon a 15-year franchise agreement. What will the Philadelphia City Council demand from Verizon in 15 years when it's time to renew? It's not like Verizon is going to say 'no' to any demands after shelling out $1 billion to build the fiber network. Why do we even have TV franchise agreements any more? Haven't they outlived their usefulness? It's such a scam by local governments to make cable companies - and now carriers to "pay the man" if they want to do business in the town. Phone companies don't have to pay local franchise fees to provide telephone service, so why do TV providers have to pay? It's a legalized mafia racket if you ask me.
Philadelphia residents and the local government should be ecstatic that Verizon is targeting the city first before many other major cities. They should be grateful.
Via ABC Local news affiliate
