FCC Finally Realizes That Exclusive Deals For Cable Aren't Particularly Competitive
from the just-noticed? dept
For years, a lucrative area of business for cable companies was to sign exclusive deals with apartment building and new housing developments, which would effectively lock out competitors from those markets. Often, these deals were signed with the details hidden in the fine print -- and building owners were even given rewards for not altering the contracts. The companies who signed these deals argued that they could then provide better service if they were guaranteed to be the only provider in a building -- but there doesn't seem to be much evidence that either service or prices were any better in these buildings. Bizarrely, the FCC had approved these deals claiming that they were actually helping competition (again, there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support that). Of course, when it comes to cable, there really hadn't been that much competition until more recently -- and the telcos who are just now getting into the TV business missed out on their chance to sign these kinds of deals, since the cable companies locked them all up already. So, even though the telcos would love to have these types of exclusive deals themselves, they're too late in the video space. Thus, the telcos have been complaining, and FCC boss Kevin Martin doesn't much like it when his friends at the telcos complain. So it should come as little surprise that the FCC is about to make those kinds of agreements illegal. The cable companies are gearing up to fight this in court, so it may be a little while before anything happens. Of course, the telcos have often tried to sign similar deals themselves when it comes to broadband access -- so it'll be interesting to see if those are also no longer binding.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: cable, exclusive, internet
Companies: comcast, fcc
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kevin martin encouraging competition?
no, wait, it's to help the telecommunications industry who are pulling his strings. it's business as usual.
for a second there i thought the world had changed for the better.
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relation
Not that I care, just pointing it out.
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Re: relation
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One Choice in Chicago
Since satellite tv doesn't work on my lot, I can't wait for IP television. I'll be the first customer.
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Re: One Choice in Chicago
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Re: Re: One Choice in Chicago
I just needed to complain.
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No choice in my City
Where I work (in the middle of nowhere, less than 5,000 residents) the city has 2 cable providers (who both offer $39 cable modem), 2 phone providers (who both offer $29 DSL), not to mention a fixed wireless ISP offering wireless 128k through T1s (hella expensive, but its a choice)
Oh, well I guess I can thank my city counsel for signing those exclusive Qwest and Comcast agreements.
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Some telcos have already gotten in on this racket
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I wish...
Unfortunately Qwest has a lock on all the phone lines, so it is my only option for a DSL line provider at $50 a month (line+isp), but its better than the $65 from comcast for cable modem.
I wish my DSL+line bill were only $50 or even $65. Sprint has a lock in my area so I'm giving up almsost $100/mn for line+DSL.
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Competition
The consumer *does* have a choice in the matter, but needs to do their homework first. Don't like the company this or that complex does business with, move to somewhere that does.
The choice is available to both parties involved so competition is still maintained. The only way it wouldnt be competition is if there were *no other* cable companies servicing that area. Which would make exclusive contracts redundant.
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Re: Competition
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Cable Companies Must Perform Or Their Out
All it takes is good negotiating by the city to keep these cable companies in line. Too many people think the Cable company holds all the cards, which is not always true.
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