Jessica Rosenworcel is the Chairwoman for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and has recently voiced her concern and proposed that there should be new rules put in place that could increase broadband options for those who live in apartment buildings. Some analysts believe that the decision could have negative impacts that aren’t seen right away.
Current Situations
There are rules that the FCC has established to keep one broadband company from dominating an apartment complex or building. However, these rules can sometimes leave landlords open to providing other deals or working with companies to deliver deals for tenants if they choose one company over another. The rules proposed by Rosenworcel would eliminate the deals that are made and prevent one company from being the main provider for services that are offered. Internet providers would also be required to be upfront about any deals or promotions that are made between the building owner and the company. Any arrangements involving leasebacks and sales would also be prohibited so that other providers would have an opportunity to offer their services to tenants of the building.
About one-third of the people who live in the United States live in an apartment or another kind of multi-tenant building as well as mobile home parks and public housing developments. Consumers should have the choice of who they want to provide their TV streaming and internet services instead of being forced to use one provider that they might not be able to afford simply because there’s a deal in place with the owner of the complex or development. President Biden signed legislation in July 2021 to try to tighten the reigns of broadband providers so that there’s not as much competition and so that there are more affordable options for consumers. The FCC has been encouraged to fight for consumers so that they have options and so that providers are looked at a bit more closely to determine if they are getting kickbacks from building owners for the services that they provide.
What Others Think
Chip Pickering is the CEO of INCOMPAS, which is a networks association that is quite competitive with others in the market. He is in agreement with the proposals that have been made as there is a monopoly on broadband services. There are providers like Spectrum internet that have reached the top of the ladder and believe that they should be the primary option for consumers, which means that they will do almost anything in order to retain the customers they have or gain new customers. However, there are providers who can offer lower prices and faster speeds that consumers might not even know about because building owners haven’t revealed the information available and won’t let tenants choose which provider they want to use. Network owners will begin looking at the details of the proposal to see what it entails so that they can begin preparing for advertising and trying to reach building owners in order to offer their services.
Raymond James is an analyst who has made notes about providers reducing their services in multi-tenant buildings. If that happens, then consumers might not have the option for providers who offer higher speeds that they need because the larger providers will move on to areas where they know they can dominate the market. If there’s a deal in place, then it should be upheld by the building owner. However, there should also be options available for consumers in some way.