Franchise

From Wikinfo

Meanings of franchise:

• Any right or privilege granted by constitution or statute, but especially suffrage, the right to vote.
• Franchising - a business model.
• Franchise (contract) - In government, franchise may also mean the granting of permission by a government to a service provider to use the public right-of-way. Examples include sewer pipes, water pipes, telecommunications conduit, gas pipes, electrical lines, and garbage collection. Franchises may be exclusive (such as garbage collection where everyone receives refuse collection from the same company or agency) or nonexclusive (such as telecommunications from multiple carriers).

See also: Video game franchise

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Franchise" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franchise, used under the GNU Free Documentation License