Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT), the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, acknowledged that the recently enacted STELAR Reauthorization Act directed the FCC to provide relief for small cable systems. Nothing more.
He said the FCC was going far beyond the will of Congress by proposing a presumption of competition for all MVPDs in all markets.
He underscored the fact that STELAR was a bipartisan effort that in addition to taking into account views from both parties also attempted to fairly incorporate the views of numerous stakeholders.
He said Section 111 of the bill was “purposefully focused on small cable operators, particularly those in rural areas.” He said they are extremely important to their communities both for video and broadband delivery, but face serious challenges that the FCC was to help alleviate.
He did not say that the presumption of competition concept is necessarily incorrect, but he strongly underscored that it was in no way a part of STELAR, and if it is to be considered, it must be on its own merits as a free-standing issue.
He suggested a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the topic.
Leahy concluded, “I do not believe, however, that the STELAR implementation process and the Congressionally mandated deadlines therein represents the appropriate vehicle to make such changes. I encourage you to reconsider your current path and use the section 111 proceeding in the narrow way in which Congress intended.”
