NATOA Lobbies FCC on Scaling Back Effective Competition Tack

The FCC should take a limited approach to cable effective competition and seek only to streamline the current process, said Steve Traylor, NATOA executive director, in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-53. If the commission adopts its proposed rule, it should take steps to streamline the process for affected local franchising authorities that want to regain their rate regulation authority, Traylor said he told Maria Kirby, media aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Traylor echoed another NATOA filing posted Monday, saying the commission should affirmatively state that the elimination of rate regulation of the basic tier of service on a nationwide level doesn't give cable operators authority to unilaterally move public, educational and governmental channels off the basic tier (see 1505190054)