Ajit Pai?s new gift to cable companies would kill local fees and rules

Cable industry lobbyists have urged the FCC to stop cities and towns from assessing fees on the revenue cable companies make from broadband.If approved, Pai's proposal would "Prohibit LFAs [local franchising authorities] from using their video franchising authority to regulate most non-cable services, including broadband Internet service, offered over cable systems by incumbent cable operators." Pai's proposal complains that "some states and localities are purporting to assert authority" to collect fees and impose requirements that aren't explicitly allowed by Title VI, the cable-regulation section that Congress added to communications law with the Cable Act of 1984.Pai's proposal says:These efforts appear to have followed the decision by the Supreme Court of Oregon in City of Eugene v. The FCC proposals "violate the plain language of the statute which authorizes Local Franchise Authorities (LFAs) to both collect franchise fees and to impose franchise requirements on cable operators," said an FCC filing by dozens of local governments including Anne Arundel County, Maryland; Boston, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Dallas, Texas; the District of Columbia; Portland, Oregon; and Los Angeles, California.The cable industry's main lobby group, NCTA, urged the FCC to approve Pai's plan, saying the commission should "rein in the harmful practices of state and local franchising authorities who ignore the clear limits in the Cable Act, to the ultimate detriment of consumers." The group said that the financial impact of local fees "could fall entirely on cable operators, entirely on consumers, or on both groups."You must login or create an account to comment.Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox.