Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable's argument that DirecTV Now doesn't offer channels of service and its service isn't comparable to Charter Communications' cable as effective competition with Charter Communications (see 1810260026) is a " 'gotcha' argument [that] is too clever by half," NCTA said in a docket 18-283 posting Monday. It said no statutory definition or policy rationale MDTC cited applies to the LEC test, and that statutory test doesn't include the word "channel" but instead looks at comparable video programming service issues. Congress said an LEC-owned service offering comparable video service would exempt cable systems from rate regulation, and DirecTV Now obviously fits that bill, it said. Charter seeks a determination of effective competition in Massachusetts and Hawaii based on AT&T's DirecTV Now virtual MVPD (see 1809170020).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is allotting a group of antitrust scholars, as amici curiae, 10 minutes for oral argument Thursday in the DOJ's appeal of a lower court's allowing AT&T's buy of Time Warner, said a docket 18-5214 order (in Pacer) posted Friday. Their participation was supported by Justice and opposed by appellee AT&T (see 1811260029). Appellant DOJ will get 20 minutes, and AT&T has 30 minutes, which it can share with supporting amici curiae, the court said. Separately, antitrust lawyer Joseph Alioto moved Saturday (see here, in Pacer) to file an amicus brief supporting DOJ, arguing that Supreme Court precedent established the Clayton Act prohibits acquisition of a significant rival in an industry trending toward concentration, so there needs to be immediate divestiture by TW. Alioto said by buying content company TW, AT&T is opting not to make investments in content it had planned to do before the deal, so AT&T is eliminated as a potential competitor in the content market. He said AT&T has started to pass on acquisition debt to consumers through increased prices. Alioto said his brief isn't opposed by DOJ but opposed by AT&T.
Comcast said the FCC should balance "the granularity, accuracy and timeliness" of broadband and voice service deployment data it collects from industry Form 477 filings. The company cited challenges to "submitting address-level information and indicated that data could not be provided in that format in an accurate or timely fashion," in a meeting with aides to all commissioner offices, posted Thursday in docket 11-10. "Initiate a pilot program to explore the feasibility of submitting deployment data at the road/street segment level. This approach would provide the Commission with much more granular data than it obtains today and also could be prepared and submitted by service providers relatively quickly." AT&T proposes an address-based approach (see 1810160017).
Anyone seeking to operate an open video system should electronically submit certification applications, including FCC Form 1275 and all attachments, as well as OVS notices of intent, said a Media Bureau public notice Friday. The electronic filing requirement, replacing paper filing, is in effect, after the agency adopted new rules in October (see 1810250020), it said.
Legal challenges to Comcast's buy of NBCUniversal are weaker than in 2011, Free State Foundation academic adviser Ted Bolema wrote Thursday. Comcast has less leverage over rivals now as consumer choices expand and cord cutting accelerates. DOJ options are limited by agency skepticism of behavioral conditions, and action could lend credence to claims it's acting under pressure from President Donald Trump, Bolema said. The department didn't comment.
Localities continue to lobby against a Further NPRM that would treat cable operators' in-kind contributions required by local franchise authorities as franchise fees subject to a cap (see 1811150027). Costs that would fall on the city would be prohibitive to continuing its local channel, Juneau, Wisconsin, said in a docket 05-311 posting Wednesday. The Portland Media Center, which provides public access TV services to part of Maine, said that broad definition of franchise fee "will shift the fair balance" between cable franchising authorities and cable operators, forcing communities to choose between franchise fees and public, educational and government channels. It waved off cable arguments such fees stifle innovation, pointing to increased channels, signal upgrades to digital and faster broadband. The Vermont Access Network, which facilitates creation of PEG programming, said this would create a cable operator/franchising authority imbalance.
The statute that sets out the LEC test for effective competition says "facilities," showing Congress meant to apply it only to LECs that that use their facilities to provide video programming in direct competition with cable-TV operators, Hawaii said in a docket 18-283 posting Tuesday. Any other interpretation -- such as what Charter Communications is offering in its petition for a finding of effective competition based on the presence of DirecTV Now (see 1809170020) -- is unwarranted and would remove rate regulation protections from those remaining communities where there's not yet effective competition, the state said.
Citing a deadline between the Christmas and New Year's federal holidays, the FCC Media Bureau extended deadlines for comment on proposed changes to the FCC's cable rate regulation regime for basic tier regulation by local franchise authorities (see 1811260036) to Jan. 10. Now replies are due Feb. 11, said a public notice in Wednesday's Daily Digest.
Charter Communications will drop a commercial challenged by DirecTV that seems to indicate the DBS operator has no sports channels or programming, the National Advertising Division said Tuesday. However, NAD said there was sufficient evidence to back another challenged Charter commercial about $99 charges for technicians sent to homes to resolve DirecTV service issues. Charter didn't comment. The Better Business Bureau's NAD separately said Wednesday that a Comcast-challenged AT&T ad for DirecTV didn't convey misleading disparaging messages "that cable service providers and their customers are associated with the occult."
Comments are due Dec. 27, replies Jan. 28 on proposed changes to the FCC's cable rate regulation regime for basic tier regulation by local franchise authorities, says a notice for Tuesday's Federal Register. Commissioners approved the Further NPRM and order at their Oct. 23 meeting (see 1810230037). The order, which eliminates or revises cable rules now obsolete due to the sunsetting of cable programming service tier regulation, takes effect Dec. 27, says a separate FR notice for Tuesday.