FCC rules exempting SMATV operators from franchise obligations gi...
FCC rules exempting SMATV operators from franchise obligations give them “ostensible” competitive advantage over cable operators, R.I. Div. of Public Utilities & Carriers (DPUC) said, and cable is justified in questioning why it has to bear regulatory obligations and…
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associated cost. That disparity helps SMATV operators sell their services at discounted rates, DPUC said in interim ruling on New England Cable TV Assn. (NECTA) petition for clarification of status of SMATV operator Starlight Communications(CD Dec 18 p9). Clearly Starlight and Cox, largest cable operator in R.I., provide “relatively indistinguishable” video programming service, agency said. “The Division acknowledges that the fine distinction associated with Starlight’s ‘use’ of the public right-of-way, through Verizon, vis-a-vis the proprietary cable infrastructure used by NECTA members offers little solace in understanding why Starlight is not required to construct and maintain an institutional network (I-Net) and public access studios for its subscribers,” DPUC said. Saying it couldn’t deem Starlight to be cable operator under current FCC rules, DPUC said, it would file amicus brief if NECTA decided to challenge Starlight’s status at FCC to “convey our conviction that supervising and regulating all cable service operators in Rhode Island is in the public interest.” Since several years had passed since FCC’s ECI decision, agency may be willing to “revisit and perhaps reverse its previous policy on SMATV cable operators,” it said.