Tackle 'Excessive' Costs of Video Programming To Improve Broadband Deployment, ACA Says
The FCC can increase broadband deployment by tackling the “excessive and increasing costs for video programming,” the American Cable Association said in comments responding to January's Notice of Inquiry into improving deployment (see 1501290043). The commission should update its program…
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access rules to preserve competition in video distribution markets, by taking steps to allow a multichannel video programming distributor buying group like the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC) to bring a complaint against discriminatory rates, terms and conditions by a cable-affiliated programmer, ACA said in the comments posted Monday in docket 14-126. More than 900 small and medium-sized broadband and video providers nationally rely on the NCTC to negotiate the bulk of their programming agreements, ACA said. But because of the commission’s “overly-restrictive” definition of buying group, those that rely on NCTC “are without program access protections” and are “at risk of facing higher rates,” the filing said. The commission also should create a rebuttable presumption against allowing exclusive cable programming contracts, ACA said. The NOI had been issued in conjunction with the agency’s decision to increase the broadband speed benchmark to 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload, and the agency’s finding that deployment is not occurring in a reasonable and timely fashion. CTIA in its comments posted Friday objected to mobile deployment not being factored into the conclusion. To increase mobile broadband deployment, the agency should free additional spectrum for wireless broadband, and continue to facilitate wireless infrastructure deployment, through such steps as developing a programmatic agreement to facilitate the deployment of distributed antenna systems and small cells, CTIA said. The commission also should increase funding for the Mobility Fund, which the association called “relatively paltry” compared with funding for wireline providers. USTelecom and NCTA had also responded to the NOI (see 1503060064).