HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 04031990 - 1.74 4
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
= Contra
FROM: l Costa
n: :
Phil Batchelor, County Administrator
County
DATE: March 19, 1990 'rA COV
SUBJECT: Reexamination of the effective competition standard for
the regulation of cable television basic service rates.
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECONEENDATION
Authorize the Assistant Franchise Administrator to submit
comments to the Federal Communications Commission in support of
the National League of Cities position on MM Docket No. 90-4
(Reexamination of the effective competition standard for the
regulation of cable television basic service rates) .
FINANCIAL IMPACT
No financial impact to the County.
REASONS FOR RECONIlENDATION/BACKGROUND
In connection with its Cable Inquiry, the text of which was
released on December 29,1990, the FCC is holding three public
hearings outside of Washington and is accepting comments on the
matter of the reexamination of the effective competition standard
for the regulation of cable television basic service rates. As
currently defined "effective competition" exists wherever three
or more over-the-air broadcast signals or translators are
available in the cable franchise territory. In practice this has
meant that rates are unregulated throughout Contra Costa County.
The National League of Cities suggests that the only effective
competition to a multi-channel system is another cable system,
multi-channel service or combination of ff-air and cable with
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMEN1Ye.-- YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
Ly APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURES:
ACTION OF BOARD ON APR 3 1990APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED x OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
X UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: County Administrator ATTESTED- APR 3 1990
Pat Burke, CAO Office PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF
Sara Hoffman, Communi t.y Dev, SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
David Schmidt, County Counsel
BY
M382 (10/88) DEPUTY
the same range of channels and programming as the cable system.
Staff agrees and supports their recommendation to change the
definition of "effective competition" and allow more regulation
of all cable rates.
In Contra Costa County where our cable systems do not have
meaningful competition, rate regulation would enable our County
government to once again provide citizens with protection against
unreasonable and frequent cable rate increases.
1-074
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of )
Reexamination of the Effective )
Competition Standard for the ) MM Docket No. 90-4
Regulation of Cable Television )
Basic Service Rates )
Comments of CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Date Filed March 22 , 1990
1 Before the
2 Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
3 In the Matter of )
4 Reexamination of the Effective )
Competition Standard for the ) MM Docket No. 90-4
5 Regulation of Cable Television )
Basic Service Rates )
6
7 The County of Contra Costa hereby submits these comments in
8 response to the reexamination of the effective competition
9 standard for the regulation of cable television basic
10 service rates.
11
12
13 REDEFINE "EFFECTIVE COMPETITION"
14
15 Contra Costa County agrees with the National League of
16 Cities that the definition of "effective competition" should
17 be changed. Current Commission standards were established at
18 a time when cable television was used primarily to
19 retransmit the signals of television broadcast stations in
20 areas where the quality of over-the-air reception was poor.
21 The nature of the services provided over cable systems has
. 22 undergone major changes since that time. Services today
23 include satellite programming (e.g. , ESPN, CNN and C-SPAN) ,
24 cable only programming(e.g. , TNT) , and others (e.g. , X
25 press) .
26
27 In light of these changes, Contra Costa County believes that
28 three off-air broadcast stations do not offer competition to
multi-channel cable service. In 1980, the average number of
2 channels on Basic service offered by the nine cable systems
3 in Contra Costa County was 13 . In 1990, the average number
4 of channels is 31. Of these only half are broadcast within a
5 30 mile range of our County. Many of the other channels are
6 satellite channels with wide viewership.
7
8 Therefore, the County also agrees with the National League
9 of Cities that the only effective competition to a
10 multi-channel system is another cable system, multi-channel
11 service or combination of off-air and cable with the same
12 range of channels and programming as the cable system.
13 However, for the last 24 years Contra Costa County has had
14 nonexclusive franchises with our nine cable systems. In
15 that time only one cable company has applied for an
16 overlapping franchise. This cable company currently
17 provides service to a small, upscale area (i.e. ,
18 approximately 500 of the County' s 49 ,000 subscribers) .
19 Given the economics of the cable business, the hilly
20 geography of our County and the lack of adequate off-air
21 channels without the use of prohibitively expensive
22- equipment, the cable systems in our area have a natural, de
23 facto monopoly within their service areas.
24
25 In those situations where a cabled system does not have
26 meaningful competition, rate regulation by the local
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1 franchising authority is necessary to protect the public
2 against the unregulated, de facto monopoly that otherwise
3 exists.
4
5
6 CONCLUSION
7
8 Contra Costa County urges the Commission to redefine
9 'effective competition" to: provide for local regulation
10 where overbuilds are not economically feasible and
11 sufficient off-air signals are not available and restore
12 local rate regulation for all cable rates.
13
14
15 Respectfully submitted,
16
17
Pat Burke
18 Assistant Franchise
Administrator
19 651 Pine Street, 11th Floor
Martinez , CA 94553
20 ( 415) 646-2948
21
cc: Leslie Wollock, NLC
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