Yesterday FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said: ‘’Our dated and reticulated set of cable television rate regulations are one such example. That is why I would like to consider an order that gets rid of those obsolete and unworkable rules.” He's proposing to remove "77 rules and requirements that have no meaningful application today."
This would be a meaningful regulatory reform accomplishment if it occurs.
The Free State Foundation's initial comments in the FCC's "DELETE DELETE DELETE" proceeding were focused most heavily on just what Chairman Carr is now proposing: the elimination of outdated legacy regulations applicable to cable and satellite TV operators.
Here is part of what FSF said in its comments:
The ability to deliver the highest-quality video over broadband, in any format and to any connected device, has proven to be the great equalizer – a development that indisputably eviscerates any policy rationale underlying legacy regulations premised upon the existence of claimed video distribution "bottlenecks." As ongoing trends in the marketplace make plain, facilities-based Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) enjoy no competitive advantage vis-à-vis over-the-top providers warranting one-sided regulations.
To the contrary, what primarily stands in the way of unbridled, consumer-benefitting competition are ill-fitting rules that hamstring the subset of participants to which they uniquely apply: cable operators and Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) providers. This proceeding can foster optimal efficiency levels in the operation of the marketplace by realigning the regulatory environment to fit the facts that exist on the ground today.
I'm encouraged by Chairman Carr's statement -- and I look forward to the deregulatory follow-through!
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