Local Groups Seek FCC Stay of Local Franchising Order Pending Judicial Review
The FCC should stay its local franchising authority (LFA) order pending the outcome of legal challenges in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, said organizations representing localities in a motion for stay posted Tuesday (see 1908010011). The…
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groups, which include the National League of Cities and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, are also petitioners in the court case, say they’re likely to succeed on the merits, and allowing the order to proceed in the meantime would cause them “irreparable harm.” The order “assumes that tens of thousands of franchise agreements in effect today can be summarily changed -- regardless of the existing modification process set forth under the Cable Act -- in 120 days,” the motion said. Local governments will be unable to replace their institutional networks (I-Nets) in the FCC’s time frame because of budgetary and procurement rules, the motion said. Cable operators wouldn’t be hurt by a stay because they, LFAs and the FCC “have all been operating under the status quo for 35 years, the motion said. “The public interest supports a stay to avoid impacting public safety and blocking public benefits while the legality of the Order is ascertained.”