The apartment industry on a major telecommunications decision when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) affirmed (MB Docket No. 07-51) the right of apartment owners to enter into exclusive marketing contracts and bulk billing agreements with video service providers.
Under an exclusive marketing agreement, an apartment community promotes one video service provider to residents, but may allow additional providers to serve the property. (This is a key distinction from exclusive access agreements, which prevented more than one provider from serving a building and were retroactively banned by the FCC in 2007.)
In a bulk billing agreement, the property owner contracts with, and directly compensates, one video provider to service the entire community at a significant discount; however, residents are free to contract with an additional provider. Some firms use bulk billing as an amenity for residents by providing discounted video service that is available immediately upon move-in.
NAA/NMHC have led the fight against federal regulations that improperly restrict an apartment owner’s ability to freely contract with telecommunications providers. NAA/NMHC’s legal challenge to the FCC’s retroactive ban on exclusive access agreements preemptively challenged further regulation in this area, and our significant contributions to the FCC’s rulemaking process helped it conclude that these practices do not significantly hinder or, block competition. Visit http://bit.ly/90ZUZc.