TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: I’m sure you’ll appreciate this: Some people in Congress promise they’re gonna lower your cable bill. Last night, the House passed a measure that would help more telephone companies get into the biz. Alisa Roth has more.

ALISA ROTH: The new bill would replace 30,000 local franchising authorities with a national system, supervised by the Federal Communications Commission.

That should make it easier for new companies to get into the TV business.

Companies like Verizon and AT&T are developing networks of extra-large bandwidth. They’ll use them to provide a bunch of different services, including high-speed Internet.

Ann Veigle is an editor at Communications Daily.

ANN VEIGLE: They’ll be making deals with programmers, just like Disney, Showtime and all that cable has. And in some cases, you may have more selection than you get from your current cable company.

More competition could make cable services cheaper, but don’t throw out that cable box just yet. The Bill faces a tough fight in the Senate.

In New York, I’m Alisa Roth for Marketplace.