U.S. Senator Mark Pryor To Address ACA’s 19th Annual Summit In Washington, D.C.

Jan. 31, 2012 - PRLog -- PITTSBURGH, Jan. 31, 2012 - The American Cable Association today announced that U.S. Senator Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), a Capitol Hill leader with a bold vision for advancing broadband services and infrastructure in rural America, will deliver the Congressional Keynote Address at ACA's Annual Summit in Washington, D.C., providing the independent cable operator community with a first-hand assessment of the telecommunications policy agenda for the year ahead.

"ACA is very delighted that Sen. Pryor can join ACA members at their annual convention in our nation's capital. Sen. Pryor's perspective on the issues is widely respected, and few in Congress have a better understanding of the needs of the independent cable community and its longstanding support for communications policies that promote choice and competition in hometown America than Sen. Pryor," ACA President and CEO Matthew M. Polka said.

Sen. Pryor serves on six Senate Committees, including the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Federal Communications Commission and various regulated industries, including cable operators, broadcasters, telephone companies, wireless carriers, and satellite distributors.  Responding to the concerns of millions of parents, Sen. Pryor has sought ways for technology to shield children from inappropriate content on television and the Internet.

Another area of interest of Sen. Pryor is data security in light of historic privacy breaches at Sony and Epsilon. Sen. Pryor is sponsor of a bill that would impose uniform national data security and data breach notification requirements on entities that collect sensitive personal information, with steep civil penalties for violations.

Sen. Pryor was first elected to public office in 1990 as a member of the Arkansas State House of Representatives. In 1998, he was elected Arkansas Attorney General where he implemented legislation that protected children on the Internet, prohibited unwanted telemarketing calls, and helped establish the Morgan Nick Alert System to locate missing and exploited children. In 2008, Pryor was elected to serve a second term in the U.S. Senate where he received more votes than any statewide elected official in Arkansas history.

The ACA Summit, which is the cable industry's marquee event for smaller, independent and competitive cable operators, will take place March 13-15 at the Grand Hyatt in downtown Washington, D.C. The Summit is a unique opportunity for the leaders of companies that serve hometown America with advanced communications services to exchange public policy ideas with the Obama Administration, Capitol Hill lawmakers and FCC officials. This year's event will mark the 19th ACA Summit, extending its tradition as the most important forum nationally for honoring the critical role performed by independent cable operators that serve remote regions of the country.

The theme for this year's show is "Geared Up For Progress," underscoring ACA's firm commitment to finding consensus and making progress on many critical issues, especially retransmission consent, broadband deployment and access to content on fair and reasonable terms.

ACA is currently seeking exhibitors and sponsors for the event.  Interested parties should contact Stacey Leech at sleech@americancable.org or (412)-922-8300, ext. 15.

Further information about the ACA Summit 2012 agenda and the exciting lineup of speakers will be made available on the ACA Summit 2012 website closer to the time of the event.

Meanwhile, to register and learn more about ACA Summit 2012, please visit: ACASummit.org

About the American Cable Association: Based in Pittsburgh, the American Cable Association is a trade organization representing nearly 900 smaller and medium-sized, independent cable companies who provide broadband services for more than 7.6 million cable subscribers primarily located in rural and smaller suburban markets across America.  Through active participation in the regulatory and legislative process in Washington, D.C., ACA's members work together to advance the interests of their customers and ensure the future competitiveness and viability of their business.  For more information, visit http://www.americancable.org/

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ACA supports independent cable operators and their customers by promoting a legislative and regulatory environment that allows for a fair and competive marketplace and by providing the tools and information our members need to compete effectively