Reuters is reporting that U.S. regulators are considering new rules, favored by phone companies, designed to give multifamily residents greater choice of pay television services by banning exclusive deals between multifamily owners and cable TV providers.
Under a proposal by the head of the Federal Communications Commission, the owners of multifamily properties would be prohibited from making or enforcing exclusive deals with cable operators
If it's approved, multifamily residents will have the same choices single-family dwellers have in selecting television, cable, Internet and telephone services. In recent filings before the FCC, AT&T and Verizon have complained that exclusive multifamily long-term contracts have inhibit competition and ultimately harm consumers.
Providers like Verizon and AT&T, which are attempting broad-based entry in numerous markets throughout the nation, have already faced exclusive access arrangements designed to foreclose them from offering competing video, broadband and other services to multifamily residents in numerous instances across the country," AT&T said in comments filed with the FCC.
Large cable providers such as Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are likely to oppose the FCC proposal. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the cable industry's lobbying arm, is questioning whether the FCC has the authority to interfere with contracts between cable companies and multifamily owners.
The proposal could be voted on by the five-member FCC in the next few weeks.
Source: MultifamilyBiz.com