At the Portals

The FCC released its order Mon re-establishing a 30% horizontal cap on cable ownership. The Commission actually suggested 28% was more appropriate, but opted to round up to 30%, saying “this small upward adjustment is unlikely to cause harm.” Comcast evp David Cohen said the MSO plans to challenge the FCC order in the courts. “The FCC action in this case is perplexing from the same Commission that approved the largest telecommunications deal in history with the AT&T merger, as well as two other Bell Company mega-mergers in the past 3 years,” Cohen said. “As these FCC decisions have strengthened the hands of our Bell competitors, it is unthinkable that the government would constrain the ability of cable companies like Comcast to compete with these colossal companies that have virtually unlimited financial resources.” NCTA pointed to the US Court of Appeals rejecting the 30% cap in ’01. “We are confident that a court will again reject conclusions that are completely at odds with the realities of a dynamic and competitive marketplace that is providing greater consumer choice and value,” an NCTA spokesman said.