Cities and cable operators disagree on whether the FCC should let...

Cities and cable operators disagree on whether the FCC should let the companies get franchise relief the Commission granted to new video providers including telcos. In issuing streamlined franchise rules to bolster Bell video (CD April 9 p3), the FCC launched a rulemaking asking if the rules should extend to existing cable providers. The agency should grant such relief, said the Broadband Service Providers Assn. (BSPA) and members including Knology, PrairieWave, RCN and SureWest. Executives of those companies and a BSPA official made their case last week in meetings with aides to Chmn. Martin and Comrs. Adelstein, McDowell and Tate. “The same FCC authority that applied to new competitive franchises applies here,” a BSPA ex parte filing said: “Existing incumbent franchises should not be affected until wireline competition enters the market.” Not so, said some cities. Redding, Cal., opposes the FCC’s tentative conclusion that cable operators should get franchise deregulation when their contracts with cities expire, it told the FCC. Sec. 621 of the Communications Act, which undergirds the March franchise order for new entrants, doesn’t apply to “incumbent cable operators,” Redding said: “Those operators are by definition already in the market, and their future franchise terms and conditions are governed by the franchise renewal provisions of Section 626 and not Section 621.” Not giving RCN the same franchise rules as Bells hurts the cable operator, RCN Senior Vp Richard Ramlall told us: “Verizon will have a large cost advantage over us until those renewals. Some of our existing franchises extend past 2012, so this is not a short-term issue for us.” - JM