NCTA, Charter Back FCC in Effective Competition Legal Challenge

A LEC can be competition to cable's video service by offering a streaming video service, and the FCC's decision that the AT&T TV Now streaming service is effective competition in parts of Massachusetts and Hawaii clearly lines up with congressional intent in its effective competition test and it avoids the unfairness of asymmetrical regulations in LEC/cable operator competition. That's according to an NCTA amicus brief Wednesday (in Pacer, docket 19-2282) with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of respondent FCC and intervenor Charter Communications. The Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable is challenging the FCC's finding AT&T TV Now is effective competition to Charter cable service in Massachusetts and part of Hawaii (see 1912230063). Charter, in an intervenor brief (in Pacer), disputed MDTC arguments that AT&T TV Now fails the LEC test by not being offered directly to consumers since it comes over an intermediary broadband system, and called the FCC interpretation of the LEC test reasonable. MDTC didn't comment Thursday.