“The FCC’s pricing survey fails to account for the benefits of bundled pricing, its favorable impact on cable prices, and the greatly increased value of cable services in a digital world.  Ignoring these factors makes the pricing survey obsolete on arrival and an unsound basis for policy decisions.

On today’s decision on video franchising, it appears that the FCC pared back some of the more troubling proposals that had been floated in recent days.  The Commission made crystal clear that its order isn’t a license for AT&T to ignore the franchising process and operate under different rules from its competitors.  In addition, the Commission stepped back from pre-empting all state franchising laws, many of which have acknowledged the value to consumers of a level playing field for all competitors.  We appreciate the FCC’s commitment to complete action within six months on a further notice to address regulatory parity.

But the simple fact is that today’s order doesn’t provide a level playing field, a concept that has been universally supported up until now at federal, state, and local levels.  We don’t believe the Commission has the legal authority to establish separate regimes for incumbents and new entrants in today’s highly competitive marketplace.”

FCC Adopts Rules to Ensure Reasonable Franchising Process for New Video Market Entrants (FCC News Release, 12/20/06)

FCC Releases Report on 2005 Cable Industry Prices (FCC News Release, 12/20/06)