FCC Ends Exclusive Cable Deals With Apartment Buildings

WASHINGTON, D.C., October
31: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today announced a new rule that
prevents cable platforms from signing exclusivity deals with apartment
buildings.

The move is intended to
help lower cable rates for the nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population living
in MDUs (multiple dwelling units). The ruling prevents cable platforms like
Time Warner Cable and Comcast from entering into deals that give them the
exclusive rights to provide pay-TV services to apartment residents. Reports
indicate that pay-TV prices can fall by as much as 30 percent when a competitor
enters a market.

“Exclusive contracts
between incumbent cable operators and owners of multiple dwelling units (MDUs)
have been a significant barrier to competition,” said FCC Chairman Kevin J.
Martin. “Competition and choice in the video services market results in lower
prices, higher quality of services, and generally enhances the consumers’
experience by giving them greater choice over the purchased video programming.”

This is good news for
telcos like AT&T and Verizon, which have been working to roll out their
pay-TV services.

Verizon, which provides
FiOS TV to about 717,000 customers, issued a statement hailing the FCC’s
unanimous decision. “Millions of consumers live in apartments, condos or other
private developments, and, until now, many of them have been denied the
benefits of video competition as a result of exclusive access agreements used
by cable providers to shield themselves from competition," said Susanne
Guyer, Verizon’s senior VP of federal regulatory affairs. "The FCC
decision will provide access to new competitive options for residents of these
properties and encourages further deployment of broadband networks."

—By Mansha Daswani