FCC Seeks To Increase ISP Competition In Apartment Buildings (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Exclusive deals between broadband providers and landlords have long been a problem for Internet users, despite rules that are supposed to prevent or at least limit such arrangements. The Federal Communications Commission is starting to ask questions about whether it can do more to stop deals that impede broadband competition inside apartment and condominium buildings. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai yesterday released a draft Notice of Inquiry (NOI) that seeks public comment "on ways to facilitate greater consumer choice and to enhance broadband deployment in multiple tenant environments (MTEs)." The commission is scheduled to vote on the NOI at its June 22 meeting, and it would then take public comments before deciding whether to issue new rules or take any other action. The NOI discusses preempting local rules "that may expressly prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting the provision of telecommunications services" in multi-unit buildings. But one San Francisco regulation that could be preempted was designed to boost competition by expanding access to wires inside buildings. It's too early to tell whether the FCC really wants to preempt any state or city rules or what authority the FCC would use to do so. The NOI could also lead to an expansion of FCC rules, as it seeks comment on whether the commission should impose new restrictions on exclusive marketing and bulk billing arrangements between companies and building owners. The NOI further seeks comment on how "revenue sharing agreements and exclusive wiring arrangements between MTE owners and broadband providers may affect broadband competition" and "other contractual provisions and non-contractual practices that may impact the ability of broadband providers to compete in MTEs." The NOI also asks whether the commission should encourage cities and states to adopt model codes that promote competition in multi-unit buildings, and the document asks what practices those model codes should prohibit or mandate.

Comments

FCC Seeks To Increase ISP Competition In Cities

[FrankHaynes]

The headline you will never see.

Re:FCC Seeks To Increase ISP Competition In Cities

[Orgasmatron]

You really need to figure out if your state public utility commission or some local body is preventing competition.

I live in a semi-rural area outside of a small town. (town is ~2500 pop year-round, 2x 15k pop 20 miles in opposite directions, 120k pop 40 miles away, and a major metro 80 miles away) I have two fiber plants in my yard. Plus DSL available, plus long range wifi, plus cellular - but I don't consider them practical options. One of the fiber ISPs is a new-ish cable company. They have financing locked in and already have plans drawn up to build a new fiber plant in every town and city in the area they aren't already in.

What is holding them back is not the allegedly insurmountable expense of building brand new fiber plant. It isn't a need or desire to only hit high density areas. No, the only thing holding them back is monopoly franchise agreements the incumbents hold with the local governments. Every time they kill one of those, not only do they build a new plant in that area, but the incumbent does too. Sometimes the incumbent announces their plans a month or so after swearing (to the city board or whatever) that it is too expensive to do.

Figure out what is really preventing competition in your area, and fix it if you want things to get better.

consumer choice options

[swell]

I recently lived in a brand new complex that was designed without traditional POTS, plain old telephone system wiring. That was because the local cable company arranged an exclusive contract with the property owner- they would provide TV, internet and telephone for all the residents. It was very difficult for any competitor to reach that building.

Now I live in an older building with POTS & cable wiring. I had cable for internet, but they raised the price beyond reason. The telephone company had nothing competitive. Fortunately Google (a subsidiary called WebPass) came to the rescue. They offer a high speed internet connection at a reasonable price; less than $600/year for nearly 100Mbps. Fortunately my property manager invited this service to our building.

This service utilizes the old POTS wiring already available to give ethernet connections to each unit while still allowing telephone service for those who want it. They install a microwave antenna on the roof to connect to a source for internet backbone.

For several months I've had excellent service from WebPass. They are in limited cities now but expanding. This microwave connection seems practical, affordable, and for many people the only alternative to the criminal oligopolies commonly available. If the Google/WebPass service isn't available, ask for it or find or create your own alternative.

The concept of microwave transmission of internet across rooftops is viable in most cities. It will offer alternatives to millions of users.