FCC Examining Exclusive Apartment Video Delivery Contracts

People living in apartment houses or condominiums often have no choice or limited choices for video services. If the owner of the apartment or the condominium association gives a cable company or DBS provider an exclusive contract, they may have difficulty obtaining service from other providers. Last week the FCC adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking comment on issues relating to the use of exclusive contracts for the provision of video services to multiple dwelling units or other real estate developments and the impact of these contracts on consumer choice. It also asked if these contracts impede competition and impair deployment of enhanced multichannel video and broadband services.