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Politics and Policy
FCC Dissallows Cable Monopolies in Apartment Buildings
Today the FCC announced that:
"WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Wednesday approved a rule that would ban exclusive agreements that cable television operators have with apartment buildings, opening up competition for other video providers that could eventually lead to lower prices...."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21529079/
As a general public policy, I can't argue that competition is better. Residents of large apartment buildings or complexes have been subject to fewer and fewer choices among cable TV and internet services, as most landlords prohibit residents from installing satalite antennas, and cable companies offer kick-backs to the landlords in return for an exclusive contract to provide services to tenants. Since apartment tenants tend to be less affluant, young, or minorities, anything which might lower prices for such services should be encouraged.
That being said, a couple of things struck me about this announcement.
The first is that it is being propounded by the Federal Communications Commission, not the Federal Trade Commission. The former has jurisdiction over broadcasting, but its jursidiction over Cable TV services is tenuous (which by definition is not using the public airwaves for "broadcasting". The Federal Trade Commission is the organization which normally tries to foster competition through enforcement of the various anti-monopoly and unfair trade practice laws. While both might have overlapping jursidictions on this issue, I have to wonder about the political maneuvering which might have preceeded this announcement by the FCC.
Secondly, you have to remember that whenever the government gets involved in regulating or de-regulating businesses, there are winners and losers, and the impact of those governmental actions usually has more to do with the political connections of those who are affected. Obviously, it appears that the telephone companies are in the "in", while the cable TV companies such as Comcast and Viacom are in the "out" in this arrangement.
But the most immediate impact will be upon the small "mom and pop" cable TV companies which survived over the past twenty years based upon their contracts with a handful of large apartment buildings or apartment complexes. Already squeezed by the prices charged by networks for their programming, expect those small companies to be swallowed up by Comcast or Viacom very shortly. You might see the specialized "local" programming developed by those small companies to dissapear, replaced by the more generic programming packages offered by the giant cable companies.
A ruling from an agency under the control of the Bush Administration which tends to lower prices for lower-income people and encourage competition is completely out of character with the previous policies of the Bush Administration over the past seven years. Over the past seven years the Bush administration has encouraged the consolidation of local television and radio stations under fewer owners. In general, it has preferred issuing large no-bid contracts (or setting the bidding rules so that only one large company qualifies), whether it deals with Katrina reconstruction of Iraq spending. I feel like I keep need to be checking to make sure my wallet is still in my back pocket - somebody here is out to make a buck at my expense, even if I don't see it yet.
Check out the other “Politics and Policy” Articles (click the link below):
Politics and Policy Articles
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