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Residents Take Case To FCC

They are hoping to void their contract with Century Communications.

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By LAURA KINSLER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

LIVE OAK PRESERVE - More than 100 residents of this gated New Tampa community have filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission asking it to void their 15-year contract with Century Communications.

The FCC voted in October to prohibit large cable companies from entering into exclusive contracts to serve apartments and other residential developments. The ruling also voided existing contracts.

Now, the commission is considering expanding the rule to include private cable operators, such as Century, and to eliminate "bulk billing" contracts that require customers to pay for services even if they use a competitor. Century, which is owned by the same family that founded Transeastern Homes, serves Live Oak and 14 other former Transeastern communities in Florida through bulk billing contracts.

The item likely will be on the commission's March 19 agenda. The FCC began accepting public comments in December, and the comment period ended Wednesday2/6. All of the Live Oak comments were posted this week. A town house owner in The Hammocks, another former Transeastern community, also filed a comment supporting the rule change.

Live Oak's homeowners association has sued Century to get out of the contract. About half of the residents' association dues go directly to Century for cable, Internet and home security monitoring. Hundreds of residents pay extra for satellite TV service or Verizon's FiOS.

Tony Bui subscribes to FiOS. He wrote that his family is "forced to pay for cable service that is unstable, behind the times, and not feature rich – even if we choose to use it or not."

In his comments, Brian Gaska wrote that he pays for DirecTV because he wanted high-definition channels not available with Century. "I do not think we should be forced to pay for this," he added.

Another resident, John Carter, wrote that as a senior living on a fixed income, he could not afford to pay for duplicate services. "As a result, I am stuck with poor programming options, outages during stormy weather, slow internet speeds … and poor customer service."

The residents have a powerful ally: Hillary Clinton. The U.S. senator from New York submitted a letter in favor of the rule change. She said she has heard from many of her constituents about the need for a choice of their cable TV provider.

"I believe it is clear that consumers benefit from access to more capable technology and more diverse content at lower prices," she wrote.

Counter to customers complaining about the poor service and lack of choice, there are comments from private cable companies asking for protection. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association has argued that "NCTA and other cable operators have shown that there is no evidence that they are in any way impeding competition today."

Century Communications did not comment on the matter, but several private cable companies did. Terry Clifford, president of Florida-based Astro Telecommunications, wrote that his company is like a "David who is up against Goliath and all of his family."

Litestream Holdings, another South Florida cable company, filed a legal brief supporting bulk billing contracts such as the one in Live Oak Preserve. They argue that installation costs are much higher in subdivisions than they are in apartment buildings, and small companies need long-term contracts to recoup those costs.

"The only way small cable operators such as Litestream can compete is if they are able to amortize some of the up-front infrastructure costs over time through a Bulk agreement with a homeowners' association," lawyer Gary Resnick wrote.

The Florida Public Service Commission also filed several briefs with the commission describing problems occurring in the state as a result of exclusive contracts. Florida requires telephone companies, such as Verizon and AT&T, to provide telephone service to all residential communities. Some phone companies have requested waivers from the PSC because local cable companies have contracts that prohibit them from selling cable or Internet service in those communities.

AT&T was granted such a waiver for a community in Alachua County because it argued it would take more than 12 years to recoup the cost of installing phone lines without the ability to offer additional services.

FCC spokeswoman Mary Diamond said the commission would accept reply comments, responses to the initial round of comments, until March 7.

Reporter Laura Kinsler can be reached at (813) 865-4844 or lkinsler@tampatrib.com.

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