Exclusive Apartment Deals Killing Real Broadband Competition For years now we've noted how broadband providers often enjoy exclusive contracts with development communities or apartment landlords, usually resulting in consumers having no real choice for service. While the FCC passed rules in 2007 declaring such exclusive arrangements to be verboten, a new article by Susan Crawford insists the problem persists for millions of captive broadband customers living in apartments or multi-dwelling units (MDUs).

quote: “Tenants want us, but we can’t get in” he says. “The market for Internet access doesn’t work, because there aren’t a lot of choices for people.” Without permission from a landlord, a competitive ISP can’t enter the building to provide service. But the landlords are locked up. “There’s got to be a way around this,” Barr says, and he’s asking for a new compact among cities and ISPs that would ensure this access happens — what he’s calling an “Internet Franchise” — a set of standardized city ordinances and statutes aimed at giving residents choices. If a consumer wants access to a service, then that provider should be able to get into the building, subject to reasonable technical limitations. With Google Fiber now owning WebPass, it seems likely that this issue will begin to see more attention as Google Fiber begins focusing more intently on sprawling markets like Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Crawford's article cites complaints from companies like Webpass (recently acquired by Google Fiber ) who say they still often face problems with either uncooperative landlords, or landlords whose properties are locked into long-term exclusive arrangements with a single broadband provider:With Google Fiber now owning WebPass, it seems likely that this issue will begin to see more attention as Google Fiber begins focusing more intently on sprawling markets like Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Crawford calls this little more than "payola," and argues that -- much like the discarded idea of larger open access networks -- apartments should have centralized fiber infrastructure over which multiple ISPs come in and compete. She also notes that while the FCC did pass rules banning such deals, they've been outmaneuvered by clever ISPs and developers: quote: Sure, a landlord can’t enter into an exclusive agreement granting just one ISP the right to provide Internet access service to an MDU, but a landlord can refuse to sign agreements with anyone other than Big Company X, in exchange for payments labeled in any one of a zillion ways. Exclusivity by any other name still feels just as abusive. So in short a landlord can just semantically say: "we didn't offer ISP X an exclusive, we just exercised our right to not let other ISPs in the door!" Another trick is to force landlords to sign deals with buildings that require only their promotional materials can be displayed in buildings, and marketing events by other ISPs are forbidden. As an example she offers so much as advertise its service to building residents.Crawford also details an amusing trick ISPs use to get around FCC rules giving MDU owners and lanlords control over internal wiring to avoid competition issues like these: quote: FCC long ago created “inside wiring” rules giving power to MDU owners, under certain circumstances, to take ownership of wires run by cable companies inside their buildings. The commission recognized that the wiring infrastructure inside an MDU gives the incumbent an unbeatable advantage, and wanted to open up that infrastructure to competition. But those rules were based on the (apparently naive) assumption that, initially, the cable/telco company owned the wires. Clever Time Warner Cable lawyers and many others have worked around this by deeding ownership to their inside wires to the building owner, and then getting an exclusive license back from the owner to use those wires. Such is the never-ending tap dance between ISP lawyers and regulators trying to do the right thing by consumers. Granted the FCC has its plate full on new broadband privacy rules, municipal broadband, net neutrality and attempts to bring competition to the cable box, but it's becoming abundantly clear these MDU exclusive arrangements may need another look, this time with aggressively clearer language. So in short a landlord can just semantically say: "we didn't offer ISP X an exclusive, we just exercised our right to not let other ISPs in the door!" Another trick is to force landlords to sign deals with buildings that require onlypromotional materials can be displayed in buildings, and marketing events by other ISPs are forbidden. As an example she offers this letter from Comcast to one apartment complex owner, warning them about letting Google Fiberits service to building residents.Crawford also details an amusing trick ISPs use to get around FCC rules giving MDU owners and lanlords control over internal wiring to avoid competition issues like these:Such is the never-ending tap dance between ISP lawyers and regulators trying to do the right thing by consumers. Granted the FCC has its plate full on new broadband privacy rules, municipal broadband, net neutrality and attempts to bring competition to the cable box, but it's becoming abundantly clear these MDU exclusive arrangements may need another look, this time with aggressively clearer language.







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Most recommended from 66 comments



r81984

Fair and Balanced

Premium Member

join:2001-11-14

Katy, TX 9 recommendations r81984 Premium Member This is why we need laws These stupid anti-competition bullshit is why we need regulation and laws.



They should have a law that says the utility/isp can have access to a shared dwelling if one tenant signs up for service.

They also need to make it illegal for HOAs, Condo's associations, and any other shared dwelling governing body to force any tenant into any utility, tv, or isp service.



My last apartment had a cable tv deal with some shitty no-name company wavevision. This meant you could not get comcast. So I just went without cable tv. If I am going to have to pay $100 a month for tv then I better at least get all the online shit comcast has.