Qwest to Colo. Cities: Too Much Information

Qwest Communications International is balking at a request for information by the Greater Metro Telecommunications Consortium, which representing 31 cities in Colorado, AP reported.

The Denver-area communities of Brighton, Glendale, Northglenn and Wheat Ridge are requiring firms seeking cable-TV franchises to turn over material including proprietary information, such as where a company plans to establish service, AP reported.

“You might as well label it the cable-monopoly-protection ordinance," Qwest spokeswoman Carolyn Tyler told AP.

GMTC president Darryn Zuehlke told AP the Federal Communications Commission’s March ruling requiring local governments to reject or approve cable-franchise applications within 90 days requires "very limited data of what the applicant has to provide to a local franchise authority.”