Local Regulation Questions Arise as Part of SBCA Petition of Philadelphia Ordinance
The fight between the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) and the city of Philadelphia at the FCC over a city ordinance restricting satellite antenna placement is bringing out some larger issues on the federal government’s role in municipality governance, said communications lawyers we spoke to. The SBCA, the longtime watchdog for violations of Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) rules, filed a complaint with the FCC last year that the city had violated those rules. The comment cycle on the proceeding finished recently and has included filings from several major cities and associations, plus DirecTV and Dish Network.
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SBCA has said a Philadelphia ordinance (CD Dec 23 p11) on satellite antenna placement passed last year violates restrictions against local rules that increase difficulty for accessing satellite TV. Typically, SBCA goes up against homeowners associations and much smaller towns and cities in fights over OTARD, and Philadelphia is by far the largest city to be a recipient of an OTARD complaint, said industry lawyers. “We are hopeful that the FCC will support our petition and declare Philadelphia’s ordinance a violation, setting the way for satellite television’s continued competition against cable in the video services market in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania and setting valuable precedent across the country,” said Lisa McCabe, SBCA public policy and outreach director.
Philadelphia has said it’s well within its rights and the ordinance is necessary as a public safety and appearance issue. The city worked hard in its legislative process to conform with OTARD, meeting with the FCC Media Bureau and SBCA to address the issue, said a Philadelphia official. “I think this issue is shared by other major cities” and “I think we are being responsible to our citizens” by working to preserve the “integrity of our neighborhoods,” he said. The city also worries about maintaining property values and appearances, he said. “OTARD permits local governments to do that kind of regulation and take up aesthetic concerns as long as the regulations come within the reasonableness requirements,” he said. It’s also a public safety issue because some row-house satellite dishes hang above sidewalks in the city, he said.
SBCA said Philadelphia is making too much of the petition and that its focus avoids the narrow issues involved. Philadelphia is trying to make the issue about the powers of local government rather than the central question of whether the ordinance conflicts with OTARD, said the SBCA in its reply comments on the issue.
Other major cities, including Baltimore and Boston, have joined the fray in defense of Philadelphia, saying it’s important that a city be able to regulate its own safety conditions and aesthetics. The National League of Cities (NLC), NATOA and National Association of Counties and the U.S. Conference of Mayors also supported Philadelphia. The NLC involvement came after several members asked about the issue, which addresses one of the NLC’s “core principles” of “respecting local authority,” said Laura Bonavita, principal associate on NLC federal relations team, in an interview. It’s about getting “the room and space we need” to help “preserve character,” she said.
The presence of Comcast’s headquarters in Philadelphia is another wrinkle in the fight. While nobody we talked spoke to identified a direct influence from Comcast on the issue, several did point to the company’s presence and cable franchise fees as a consideration. Asked about such claims of Comcast influence, the city official said “honestly, its just not true” and that “the city encourages competition,” recently awarding a video franchise to Comcast competitor Verizon. Comcast “had no involvement with this bill in the Philadelphia City Council,” the company said in an emailed statement. “The company had nothing to do with its introduction and did not lobby on the bill. To suggest otherwise is false."
As a result of the SBCA petition, Philadelphia hasn’t been able to implement or enforce the ordinance, another criticism of the SBCA petition. Philadelphia has said the FCC shouldn’t act on the petition until it issues actual regulations, which the city says will comply with OTARD. Even if the ordinance’s enforcement doesn’t violate OTARD, the presence of the ordinance on the books would likely serve as a deterrent to consumers considering their TV choices, said Dish Network and DirecTV in their joint reply comments. The FCC Media Bureau will likely make a decision in coming months, though the size of the record is somewhat larger and could require more time than previous OTARD proceedings, said a communications lawyer.