Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Another Great Day for Cable

As consumers scream about cable switching to digital as their cable bills skyrocket by 30-40%, the FCC deems that cable (in the communities listed in the docket) has sufficient competition. This as VZ gets franchise rights, Go figure!

"Turning to the first prong of this test, the DBS service of DirecTV, Inc. ("DirecTV") and DISH Network ("DISH") is presumed to be technically available due to its nationwide satellite footprint, and presumed to be actually available if households in a franchise area are made reasonably aware that the service is available.5 The two DBS providers’ subscriber growth reached approximately 23.16 million as of June 30, 2004, comprising approximately 23 percent of all MVPD subscribers nationwide; DirecTV has become the second largest, and DISH the fourth largest, MVPD provider. In view of this DBS growth data, and the data discussed below showing that more than 15% of the households in each of the communities listed on Attachment A are DBS subscribers, we conclude that the population of the communities at issue here may be deemed reasonably aware of the availability of DBS services for purposes of the first prong of the competing provider test."

"Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the Cable Operators have submitted sufficient evidence demonstrating that their cable systems serving the Communities set forth on Attachment A are subject to competing provider effective competition."

"IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the certifications to regulate basic cable service rates granted to any of the local franchising authorities overseeing the Cable Operators ARE REVOKED."

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