State legislatures advanced bills on video franchising, alternate regulation, VoIP, broadband deployment and 911 at the 2008 legislative season's midpoint. Maine Gov. John Baldacci, a Democrat, signed a bill to create a model cable franchise agreement municipalities can adopt for new and renewed video franchises. HB-1515 leaves franchising to cities and towns, giving the state Office of Information Technology to Dec. 15 to write a model agreement covering buildouts, franchise fees, public access channels, facility support, customer service standards and promotion of video competition.
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