Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006: public, educational, and government access channels.

The Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006 establishes a procedure for the issuance of state franchises for the provision of video service, defined to include video programming services, cable service, or open-video system service. The act provides that the holder of a state franchise is not a public utility as a result of providing video services and does not provide the Public Utilities Commission with authority to regulate the rates, terms, and conditions of video service, except as explicitly set forth in the act. The act requires a holder of a state franchise to designate a sufficient amount of capacity on its network for public, educational, and governmental access (PEG) channels, as specified. The act requires that the PEG signal be receivable by all subscribers, without the need for any equipment other than the equipment necessary to receive the lowest cost tier of service, and that PEG access capacity is of similar quality and functionality to that offered by commercial channels on the lowest cost tier of service, as specified. This bill would instead require that the PEG signal be receivable by all subscribers, without the need for any equipment different from that equipment necessary to receive the highest quality broadcast television channels, and that PEG access capacity is of similar quality and functionality to that offered by commercial channels, as specified. The bill would require the holder to retransmit the PEG signal in the format in which it is received and carry each PEG channel in both a high-definition format and a standard definition format, and would prohibit the holder from diminishing, down converting, or otherwise tampering with the PEG signal quality or format. Under existing law, a violation of an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.