The Washington Court of Appeals held that a cable company can’t force all residents of a multi-unit apartment building to use its services if it wires the building. The decision upheld a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision that such exclusive provider agreements are anticompetitive.
Banning exclusive agreements could help promote competition and reduce cable rates for an estimated 100 million consumers, FCC members said in interviews. About a quarter of the U.S. population lives in apartments, and industry experts estimate that 5 to 10 percent of those buildings have exclusive contracts. Many contracts last 5 to 10 years, while a few can last indefinitely.
The move will open the door for telephone giants Verizon and AT&T, which now offer video services, and smaller cable competitors such as RCN. Those companies have argued that long-term cable contracts lock them out of key markets.
Source:
http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Court-says-no-exclusive-cable-rights-in-apartments
