FCC ruling on TV service has little effect in Valley

AT&T competes with cable TV companies in Cleveland and Akron, but not here.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

Local apartment dwellers still have only one choice for cable television service, despite a federal ruling that opens the door for competition.

The Federal Communications Commission ruled Wednesday that cable companies cannot reach deals with owners of apartment buildings that ban other video service providers.

In the Mahoning Valley, however, there are no other providers to ban.

The only competition for longtime cable operators comes from satellite television providers, which aren’t part of the FCC ruling.

The story is different in parts of Cleveland and Akron, however.

In June, AT&T started laying fiber optic lines in suburbs of those cities to extend its U-verse video service to homeowners and apartment residents. AT&T is rolling out this service to 33 cities across the country.

Caryn Candisky, an AT&T spokeswoman, said she wasn’t sure when the service would come to the Mahoning Valley.

AT&T is the only company that is making investments in Ohio to provide a land-based video service to compete with cable companies, said Sarah Briggs, executive director of TV4US Ohio, a lobbying group.

Candisky said AT&T is spending up to $6.5 billion through next year to extend fiber optic lines into neighborhoods. Fiber optic lines are thin strands of glass that use light to carry signals at high rates of speed.

AT&T’s service is different from traditional cable because it is Internet-based.

A cable company sends a certain number of channels into every home. AT&T’s system has two-way communication. When a channel is selected, that program is downloaded over the Internet.

In areas without the new service, AT&T offers a satellite-based TV service.

Another phone company, Verizon Communications, also is moving into land-based video service, although not yet in Ohio. Verizon is laying fiber-optic cable to provide TV service in 16 of the 28 states that it serves, said Bill Kula, a company spokesman.

The FCC ruling on apartment buildings comes as phone companies and cable companies try to steal each other’s customers. Cable companies are offering phone services, while phone companies offer TV service.

“We’re a phone company now,” said Bill Jasso, a spokesman for Time Warner, which provides cable services in parts of Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

The battle will come down to who best provides the customers with what they want, he said.

“If it works out right, it should make both companies better,” he said.

Jasso and Dave Wittman, director of cable marketing for Armstrong, said they don’t have exclusivity contracts with owners of apartment buildings in the Mahoning Valley. Armstrong provides cable service in parts of Mahoning County.

Kula said, however, that the FCC ruling is important to Verizon because these contracts exist in other parts of the country. He said 25 percent of all local phone lines go to apartments and condominiums.

“It’s a very large market for us,” he said.

He added, however, that it is uncertain when the FCC ruling will go into effect. Appeals from the cable companies are expected, he said.

shilling@vindy.com