NAB's Smith Lobbies O'Rielly on Opposing Effective Cable Competition NPRM

NAB CEO Gordon Smith lobbied FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, opposing an NPRM proposing to adopt a rebuttable presumption of effective competition for all cable operators, which the group and some others have opposed and NCTA backs (see 1505060051). The proposal "is unlawful and goes well beyond STELAR’s limited directive to modify the petition filing process for small cable companies," said NAB of the 2014 Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act Reauthorization Act's Section 111. "Congress just recently addressed the Commission’s implementation of the effective competition requirements, and elected not to alter the FCC’s longstanding approach to making its necessary effective competition findings," said a filing posted Thursday to docket 15-53 on the meeting also attended by NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan and O'Rielly aide Robin Colwell. "It is odd, indeed, for the FCC to go far beyond what Congress just instructed it to do; namely, make mere administrative changes for small cable operators."