04-11-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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Md l It If Ih111r 1r•I )dr.v', M,u, I, ',,tI 1'01i FCC Tightens Rules On Cable Systems' Effective Competition By Jeannine Avena W ASH I NGTON — The Fed- eral Communications Com- mission last week tightened eligibility requirements that cable television systems must meet in order to have their basic rates deregulated l ouer its modified rules, .ne FCC: said, more cab!: systems will be. subject to local rate regu- lation . The National Cable Tele- vision Association quickly de- nounced the new require- ments, W ich go into effect in six Monti. 'l he FCC said cable svatems can escape los•al rate regulation if set least -,hree off-thr-sir broadcast signals are available in I00 percent of the cable community Former rule t re- quired that three signals be available in the cable com "unity, but never specified as to what gi-ographical extent those signals had to be avail- able The commission was in- structed by the 11 S Court of Appeals here to review a por- tion of its deregulation rules last July The agency's action came just days after the U S `iu- prenie Court said it would not hear a came that c•holleuged the I ( A 'e o%crall s able rate rrgu Intion odes The 19144 Cable Communications+ Policy Act empowered the FCC to design such rules When the commission on- nounced that it was going to modify those rules last year, it had propoowel that three off - the -air broadcast signals cover IS lercent of the cable com- inunily, rather than I(K) per- cent of the community Ales Felker, chief of the FCC's Mass Media Hut eau, said the six month delay befo ce the rules become effective will give cable svatems time to col- lect appropriate information to determine if they meet the agency's deregulation stan- dards N(71'A president James Mooney reslxrnded in a prepared etate•rnenl: "We ob- ject as a matter of principle it) the commission weakening a deregulatory order whov- --I- fect is only 15 months old No intellectually sustuinuhle ruse line been made shut cable 4rs- twnn have abused their free- dom to set rates, end we don't think such a case cull be nincle . " When asked why the com- mission abandoned its pro- posed 75 leercent coverage criteria for the 100 percent yardstick, Mr. Felker re- sponded: "administrative ense. " Ile said the commission liar other variables to examine under its rate deregulation for- mula such a-, a broadcast sig- nal's "tirade li contour," [lie geographic sphere ill co%erage where the quality of a TV )oie- ture is expected to he satisfer- tone at Irani .`i0 percent of ►he time "'ihe Gra D standard itself is r si.itistical menaure if o+ou apply the I(K) percent %landnrd to that, it'll ensirr (to (,alculatel," NIr Felker said He raid the FCC did not know how many cable systems have had rates deregulated under old rules, and that the agency could not estimate how many svatems might le suhjer•t to reregulation "It•l, safe to say when you rhanve the threshold from rero to 11N) lier- rent, there will be more," %It Felker said FCC officials said that it would he up to ho•nl (renchis- inR authorities to dreide whether to mandate rotor roll- backs by systems that )tali been deregulated undet the old rules and had increased rates but were now subject Ill rate regulation under the new stan- dards Mr Mooney said: "Ilo%%- ever disappointed we are 1)y lrolay's ailing, there npl+e•nrs little %• • rnn do about it ( tilt In%v%rrs adviw• un that till' rourta are unlikely to accotid- guess the commission on this matter We therefore will look Io the re.,.rd to he estabiivhed h) the IsrRe maj,vit% of rahle syslemm which will continue lr) he deregeslale d to Rive to the ammunition to go hack at srmte point in the future and ask the commission to ret isit this i%gie " Lest su,..mer, the 11 S Court of Appeals here largely agreed with the FCC's rate regulation formula after a group of cities challenged it The court accepted the agen- cy's determination that the "availability" of at least three off -the -air broadcast signals in a cable community Constitutes effective competition for a cable operator and thereby frees the operator from local rate regulation "ihe court, however, questioned the FCC's definition of what an •'available" signal is and re- manded that portion of the rules to the agency Under revised rtiles, the commission said a broadcast signal would be• deemed avail- able if the signal places a Grade II contour over the cable community or is "significantl% %ie•wed "'Ihe FCC said a sig- nificantly vie%ird signal would br based on viewership infor- ntstion of the cable communi- 1 y. 'I'he agency also modified its waiver procedures associated with thew sigital-nvailability hundards In signal-avoil- ability disputes, the FCC said, the party that base "will IN' respi.onsihle for the stunts of any rnginerting study that may Ile necessary " The ll S Supreme Conrt Iasi werk said it would not review the appeals e•ourt's deri- sion that genrrall% affirmed the FCC's rate deregulation formula Last fall, Connectii tit. New York City, the Notional League of Cities and the American Civil Ube►ities Union asked the Supreme Cours to re%irw the appeals rourOt n►ling The have argued that the FC( .. rules "will have sweeping na- tionwide Impact. %ill pre-empt stale and local g.,%e•nml'n s in Ion eirra in %will, the% ha%e traditionally exerrisrd .uthorily and ill sidryrct cable subsrribrrs to the hat- arda of a market that is effe-- lively competitive only aceord- ing to the FCC " NC:TA, backing the FCC, requested that the high court not hear live ease in other business, the FCC Inunchrd a ptorerding to rol- lrct information on how lele- %ision broadcasters' operations are faring in Ihe abweive of must -ram• rules for cable op- erators The FCC said it is Inrgrfy hx4ing for hard numhers, pertaining to station audiences and revenues . U