Wireless Cable Association Hails Program Access Bill
Friday March 27, 4:19 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Wireless Cable Association International, Inc.
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WASHINGTON, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wireless Cable Association (WCA) applauds the forceful and much-needed legislation, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.), to close loopholes in video program access provisions of the 1992 Cable Act and stem rising cable rates by defining anti-competitive actions in terms of antitrust law.
WCA President Andrew Kreig praised the leadership of Chairman Hyde to help consumers nationwide by introducing legislation that will help ensure a level playing field in the multichannel marketplace by erasing impediments to competition and correcting the abusive practices of monopolistic providers. ''This necessary update in existing antitrust law,'' Kreig said, ''creates a weapon to cure some of the ills facing emerging multichannel video competitors such as wireless cable. All of the competitors to cable have been calling on Congress to act on behalf of consumers in this critical area and it's vital that Chairman Hyde and this bipartisan group of supporters have taken this action to foster competition through full and fair access to programming.''
The Antitrust Video Competition Improvement Act, H.R. 3559, introduced March 26 with a group of seven bipartisan co-sponsors, attacks anti- competitive practices such as exclusive contracts and discriminatory pricing which lead to higher cable rates and limits consumer choice.
The WCA notes, however, that there are still other actions needed to improve competition in the multichannel video marketplace including:
- Congress should address bundling of programming, where a much-desired channel will not be sold unless another is purchased with it.
- The Federal Communications Commission should support granting complainants of program access violations the right of automatic discovery, and set damages as a remedy for violating regulations.
- The Justice Department, the FCC and lawmakers should address the specific anti-competitive effects of the News Corp./Primestar DBS deal.
The WCA represents operators of broadband wireless communications companies delivering addressable, multichannel television programming, high speed Internet access, and other interactive services over a terrestrial microwave platform. The systems (sometimes known as MDS) are growing rapidly and now serve 8 million customers in 90 nations, with 1.1 million customers in some 250 U.S. systems.
SOURCE: Wireless Cable Association International, Inc. |
