After agreeing to (1) divest certain assets in Mississippi and Louisiana, (2) honor Centennial’s existing agreements, and (3) restricting the flow of competitive information with partially owned AT&T subsidiary American Movil, the FCC cleared the way for AT&T to complete its acquisition of Centennial Communications. FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, while concurring in the decision, expressed […]
Category Archives: Federal Communications Commission
DC Circuit Overturns FCC Cable Market Share Limit
September 10, 2009 – 9:32 am
In Comcast Corp. V. FCC, District of Columbia’s Circuit Court of Appeals scrapped the Federal Communication Commission’s subscriber-share limit for cable providers, handing cable challengers a victory in a 16-year effort to scrap the ownership cap. The Court held that the FCC had clearly failed to take into account growing competition for video programming from satellite and […]
AT&T Files Complaint with FCC on Access to HD Sports Programming
August 20, 2009 – 4:14 pm
In AT&T Services Inc. et al. v. Madison Square Garden LP and Cablevision Systems Corp., in a 56-page complaint AT&T Inc. has asked the FCC to prohibit Cablevision Systems Corp.’s from denying AT&T access to its high-definition programming for two of its Connecticut regional sports networks. AT&T obtained the standard versions of these networks after filing a program access complaint […]
DC Circuit Upholds FCC Ban On Exclusive Cable Contracts
June 2, 2009 – 2:56 pm
Update June 2009: Verizon has argued that the D.C. Circuit’s rationale in upholding the ban on exclusivity deals with apartment owners should be extended to prohibit cable exclusives on regional sports programing channels. In 2007, the FCC adopted a rule banning cable companies from entering exclusive contracts with apartment building owners and forbidding the enforcement […]
FCC Denies AT&T Unfair Competition Claim
March 10, 2009 – 5:24 pm
The FCC has denied AT&T’s claim that Cox Broadcasting’s refusal to license Padres baseball games to AT&T in San Diego constitutes unfair competition. Cox has an exclusive deal the over-the-air station, Channel 4 San Diego, which has exclusive rights to the Padres games. Cox has agreed to sub-license Time-Warner cable, which like Cox serves large […]
DOJ Files Complaint & Proposed Settlement in Verizon Merger
November 7, 2008 – 2:21 pm
The Antitrust Division filed a complaint and proposed settlement requiring Verizon to divest its cellular business in 22 states to ensure continued competition after it acquires Alltel. The FCC has approved the deal.
FCC Encouraging Net Neutrality
August 4, 2008 – 11:52 am
The Federal Communications Commission issued a divided order requiring Comcast to stop the practice of blocking or delaying peer-to-peer communications. Comcast contends that it does not block communications, and its delaying policies are a reasonable means to manage bandwidth. No fine was issued.