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FCC Move on Cable in Apartments May Spur Lashback, Housing Official Says

Oct 30, 2007  •  Post A Comment

A day after Federal Communications Chairman Kevin Martin said his agency would invalidate contracts that give cable companies exclusive access to apartment buildings, a public housing official warned the move could spur lawsuits.
Mr. Martin wants to cultivate competition among cable companies to service apartment dwellers. David Brown, president of the New Jersey Association of Black Housing Administrators, said blocking developers from requiring residents to use a specific cable system could generate a new wave of litigation from cities against the agency.
Mr. Brown said the contracts can benefit residents of buildings and complexes by providing discounts and better customer service in return for exclusivity. He questioned the Federal Communications Commission’s legal authority to ban such contracts.
“The FCC is stepping into an area that is best addressed at the local level. It infringes on the rights of local and state governments,” he said on the eve of Wednesday’s FCC vote on the ban.
He also warned that allowing multiple cable companies to serve a complex would create “a logistical nightmare.”
Robert de Posada, executive director of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders, also warned against a ban, saying carefully negotiated contracts that guarantee services and big discounts could be overturned.
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin has contended that the tying of building and complex residents to a specific cable provider often eliminates competition for the cable dollar, driving up subscribers’ cable bills.
Critics suggest the deals often benefit developers at the expense of residents and prevent newer video providers, such as Verizon or AT&T, from competing for up to 25% to 30% of cable customers.
Mr. Martin has supported other FCC action to improve competition, including requiring cities to franchise multiple cable companies quickly and limiting cities’ ability to require some payments and services in return for granting franchises.
The National League of Cities and a number of cities have sued the FCC over that move, arguing the agency overstepped its authority; that suit is to be heard in the 6th Circuit Appellate Court in Cincinnati.
(Editor: Horowitz. Updated 2:30 p.m. to add Martin in first two paragraphs.)

11 Comments

  1. I PERSONALLY WOULD LIKE TO WEIGH IN ON THIS I LIVE IN LONG BRANCH N.J. AND HAVE COMCAST CABLE. I HAVE A BIG PROBLEM WITH THAT COMPANY AND TRIED TO SWITCH TO OPTIMUM . THEY TOLD ME THEY CANT BECAUSE COMCAST HAS THE ONLY CONTRACT FOR MY APARTMENTS.WHAT GIVES? IF I CAN DO ANYTHING PLEASE SEND INFO ASAP ROBIN TORRO

  2. As a cable operator in the midwest, one thing that we are confronted with is the fact that we, the cable operator, spent the time, the materials, and man-power to wire and provide the service to these apartment complexes in the first place.
    The way the FCC has written these rules, another company can basically come in and use the same wiring that we installed to provide their services to customers. These companies are not bound to even reimburse the existing cable company for the use of the cables that the original cable company installed.

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