FCC Rejects Petitions to Narrow Effective Competition NPRM

By ( Broadcasting & Cable ) published

The FCC has rejected a petition by the National Association of Broadcasters and Public Knowledge to narrow the scope of its proposal to presume cable operators are subject to effective competition, and thus to deregulation of basic rates, unless proved otherwise.  

Currently, the presumption is that cable operators are not and they must prove they are, though the FCC has granted virtually all of those requests thanks in part to the ubiquitous competition from satellite MVPDs.  

NAB and Public Knowledge had contended that the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was broader than the section of the satellite license renewal legislation (STELAR) that required the FCC to revisit the effective competition regime.

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John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.