ACA Backs Broad Revamp of Rate Deregulation

The American Cable Association told the Federal Communications Commission that it is happy to have larger operators included in the FCC's effort to streamline the effective competition process and reverse the presumption that cable systems don't have competition unless proved otherwise -- for purposes of deregulation basic cable rates. The version of satellite license reauthorization legislation (STELAR) that passed last fall included a mandate that the FCC look at making that process easier.

The FCC, given that it has granted virtually all cable requests to deregulate basic rates of late given, principally, the presence of multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) Dish and DirecTV, has proposed presuming cable operators are competitive and putting the onus on opponents of that deregulation to prove they are not. Critics of the FCC proposal say the Congress was trying to help smaller operators, like ACA members, and did not mean for the FCC to reverse the presumption, and certainly not for all operators.