Mass. Denied Rehearing in Cable Competition Case

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied rehearing to the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (MDTC) Tuesday in the state agency’s challenge of the FCC’s effective competition order. The appeals court in December upheld the agency's finding that vMVPD service AT&T TV Now is effective competition to cable TV, ending basic rate regulation in parts of the state (see 2012180023). “The petition for rehearing having been denied by the panel of judges who decided the case, and the petition for rehearing en banc having been submitted to the active judges of this court and a majority of the judges not having voted that the case be heard en banc, it is ordered that the petition for rehearing and petition for rehearing en banc be denied,” the court said (in Pacer, docket 19-2282). The FCC and MDTC declined to comment. The Massachusetts attorney general’s office didn’t comment.