FCC may ban exclusive apartment cable TV deals

FCC MAY BAN EXCLUSIVE APARTMENT CABLE TV DEALS
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Peter Kaplan]
U.S. regulators are considering new rules, favored by phone companies, designed to give apartment and condo dwellers greater choice of pay television services by banning exclusive deals between building owners and cable TV providers. The proposal, put forth recently by the head of the Federal Communications Commission, would prohibit the owners of apartment buildings and condominiums from making or enforcing exclusive deals with cable operators, sources close to the agency said on Friday. The proposal could be voted on by the five-member FCC as early as the next few weeks. If it's approved, the new rule would be a victory for telecommunications companies such as AT&T and Verizon, which have been pushing into the pay TV business around the United States by offering packages of TV, broadband Internet and phone services.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=industryNews&storyID...