TWC wants Manhattan TV market de-regulated

Time Warner Cable filed a request with the Federal Communications Commission last month asking for the agency to fully deregulate the TV services market in the Manhattan portion of New York City. Cable TV incumbents must prove that they face "effective competition" in a market to have rate controls and other regulations relieved, and TWC believes it can with the recent addition of Verizon Communications to the Manhattan TV services market.

The bar for proof of competition is somewhat low. All TWC has to prove is that Verizon is offering a comparable service, as the number of households being served by the competing service provider is not a criterion. However, the FCC, according to Multichannel News, has not been nearly as quick to act on cable TV deregulation requests as it has been to act on telephony deregulation requests.

For more:
- see this story at Multichannel News

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