Cable operators in Iowa successfully promoted clean-up legislation to 2007's state franchising reform bill, which clarifies that cities, not counties, can collect franchise fees.

The bill, which moved franchising authority out of the hands of local governments in order to speed market entry for new competitors, had defined municipalities to include counties, meaning those governments could have laid claim to franchise fees for the first time, according to Tom Graves, executive vice president of the Iowa Cable and Telecommunications Association.

The definition has been altered to specify that cities get the franchise fees paid by all providers.

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