On March 5, 2007 the FCC's report and Order finds that local franchising authorities have acted unreasonably and delayed competitive entry. It claims to preempt local franchising authority (LFA) and change the normal franchise process with respect to new applicants.
The LFA would have 90 days to act if "the applicant has existing authority to access public rights-of-way or 180 days if the applicant does not.
The LFA cannot refuse a franchise based on "unreasonable build out mandates". The FCC laid out several examples of what would be unreasonable, but no examples of what would be acceptable.
In regards to Franchise Fee, revenue from non cable services, including Internet access, cannot be taken into account in determining the 5% cap. Any in kind services would count against the 5% cap. In kind services might include, fiber for INets, cable from the cable company to the access facility, etc. PEG operating grants would also count against the 5% cap.
According to Miller Van Eaton, "if the Commission were to apply all the conditions summarized above to the existing operators, the renewal process, already heavily biased against local communities would be further encumbered with short time limits, restrictions on build-out requirements, threats to PEG and I-Net support and in-kind benefits."
This is just a quick summary of the latest FCC ruling. It is what I gleamed from reading the six page document our lawyers drafted for us.
