Maryland Officials Ask FCC to Clarify OTT Point

A group of Maryland county cable regulatory officials met with the legal advisors to all the commissioners on the Federal Communications Commission and the chief of the Media Bureau to argue that cable operators can't have it both ways when it comes to redefining over-the-top (OTT) video, and that the FCC should "subject" (their term) OTTs to the same regulatory and statutory obligations as multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs, or pay-TV providers).

The FCC has proposed to apply carriage and access obligations to linear OTTs but has asked whether other obligations -- PEG and leased access, for example, should also apply. The county officials wanted the FCC to know they thought it had plenty of authority to define OTT providers of linear service as MVPDs, and that it could lead to increased competition and choice, so long as they were subject to all the same rights and responsibilities.