ATLANTA - Companies wanting to compete with AT&T to provide home phone service want Georgia lawmakers to streamline the approval process, much like they did for the telecommunications giant's move into the video business.

Cable TV representatives also are hoping legislators will give them other boosts to compete equally with telecom companies on tax incentives and satellite television providers on tax charges. The Legislature this year approved a statewide franchising application for companies wanting to provide television service.

Before then, cable companies had to enter into contracts with local governments to negotiate fees for burying cable along county- or city-owned right-of-way property.

AT&T pushed for the policy change because it planned on launching television service and didn't want to go through individual county commissions because of time and expense.

The bill became one the most heavily lobbied measures this year and highlighted the changing regulatory needs as telephone and cable companies get into the phone, video and Internet businesses.

Industry representatives told a panel of legislators Thursday that the telecommunications franchise process needs to be made uniform across the state for the same reasons television agreements were changed this year.

"It's to ensure fair competition between competing carriers and (existing) carriers," said Carolyn Ridley, the vice president of regulatory affairs for Time Warner Telecom. "It's exactly the same fiber. It's exactly the same right of way. The process really should be the same."

The state's cable industry also argued Thursday that it should qualify for job creation tax credits in addition to research and development incentives, as telecommunications companies such as AT&T can.

Eric Tresh, a lawyer who spoke for the Cable Television Association of Georgia, said the term "telecommunication" was loosely defined in the tax-credit legislation, especially now that you can buy voice services from cable companies.

He also said satellite television companies should be brought in under the same tax rules as cable providers.

Cable groups in several states have pushed for the tax on satellite television, leading to lawsuits from the satellite industry, which argues that its service does not use state or local infrastructure or land to provide its signal.

Georgia satellite customers don't pay taxes to the state, and federal regulations bar local governments from collecting taxes off the service.

Mr. Tresh pointed out to legislators that the state could levy taxes on the satellite companies and hand the money to local governments.

"Satellite, telecom and cable should be taxed similar," he said.