The FCC has announced that it has adopted an Order granting Charter Communications’ Petition for Determination of Effective Competition, based on a finding that Charter is subject to “effective competition” from AT&T’s TV NOW video streaming service in certain franchise areas in Hawaii and Massachusetts where Charter is currently subject to rate regulation. The Communications Act allows municipal franchising authorities the ability to regulate rates for basic cable and equipment if the incumbent cable system is not subject to effective competition. The FCC found that the local franchising authorities in Kona, HI and 32 communities in Massachusetts are prohibited from rate-regulating basic-tier cable rates in these markets because Charter passes at least one benchmark test – – the local exchange carrier test.
