Stakeholders Debate Tougher Rules for MTE Agreements

San Francisco said competing broadband providers can be discouraged from building networks in certain markets or neighborhoods if they can't expect to serve tenants in multiple unit environments. "Continue to work with state and local governments to make sure that occupants of MTEs can choose their communications services provider, regardless of the types of services they are seeking to purchase," advised San Francisco. It wants the FCC to strengthen its prohibition of anti-competitive agreements, such as exclusive wiring arrangements, revenue-sharing agreements, and sale-and-lease-back deals. It wants state and local governments to adopt laws and use their police powers to complement FCC efforts

CenturyLink has seen "worrisome and growing trends" in its attempts to serve MTE residents. It said landlords increasingly sought to monetize access, and when those costs were too high, CenturyLink rejected tenants' request for service. "Revenue sharing arrangements are especially pernicious, particularly in the commercial context, because they incent property owners to steer business to their preferred service provider," the telco said. Update rules to prohibit providers from revenue-sharing agreements or deals that compensate a property owner beyond the actual cost; require providers disclose preferred provider agreements; and preclude providers from making a preferred provider arrangement in an MTE unless they also allow competing on-net services, it said. Also reaffirm that if a provider controls ducts, conduits and rights-of-way in an MTE, it must provide access to the infrastructure, and consider regulating MTE access services that are the exclusive means of reaching MTE tenants, the company asked.

Not all want new regulations. NCTA said cable providers spent hundreds of billions of dollars in the past 20 years deploying broadband, so "be careful not to disrupt the marketplace." Doing so could undermine investment in broadband and video to MTEs, NCTA said. Mandating providers share wiring within an apartment building could lead to decreased deployment and limited service options, it said. "To the extent the Commission does regulate the MTE marketplace, the Commission should ensure that the regulations it imposes are competitively neutral," it said. Wiring older apartment buildings can be more expensive and complicated than in traditional residential settings, the group said, and negotiating exclusive use of that wiring is one way to let providers recover their costs and get a return on investment.

Without assured access to local MTEs, some competitors may avoid a service area, Incompas said. Such access "is a significant economic factor for firms in determining their ability to deliver competitive broadband networks to areas that are lacking broadband choice," it said. Incompas asked the FCC to investigate business access agreements "that include broad termination provisions that deter competitors from provisioning broadband to commercial properties." It wants the agency to "support a new generation of state and local mandatory access laws" on competition and consumer choice in MTEs. Incompas noted mandatory access laws in the San Francisco area allowed fiber provider Sonic to gain entry to over 1,000 buildings to deploy gigabit service.

Crown Castle said prohibiting revenue-sharing arrangements could slow broadband deployment to MTEs because building owners would have less incentive to allow infrastructure installation. "Because many MTEs do not want to deal with carriers directly or negotiate agreements on a carrier-by-carrier basis, they engage experienced neutral host operators to manage and maintain installations of facilities that permit the provision of broadband services from their rooftops or within the MTE," it said.

As broadband becomes increasingly wireless, the FCC should "expand its assessment of where broadband services are consumed and the infrastructure needed to deliver them," recommended T-Mobile. Ensure "wireless carriers have access to a range of infrastructure in a variety of shared environments," and MTE owners don't restrict access to small-cell deployments or distributed antenna systems (DAS) networks, it said. Sprint said large public venues present unique challenges as they're too large for wireless signals to penetrate.

"Consumers have come to expect mobile connectivity everywhere -- even in indoor environments like shopping malls and apartment buildings -- and the wireless infrastructure industry helps deliver this connectivity," said the Wireless Infrastructure Association. The Government Wireless Technology & Telecommunications Association said ability to deploy communications facilities within buildings is vital to public safety communications. It asks the FCC to seek further comment on such issues.

The FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee developed a state model code that could be used to inform new rules, Uniti Fiber said. RealtyCom Partners opposed a further rulemaking on arrangements between landlords and telecom providers because "the market is functioning well." The National Multifamily Housing Council, with other real estate associations, opposed new regulation as unnecessary and unwise, adding "the real estate industry is underwriting the expense of infrastructure deployment at a cost of billions of dollars, simply because property owners operate in a competitive market economy and must make competitive broadband service available."

Contract negotiations shouldn't require homeowner associations to cede control of wiring to third parties for their exclusive use in perpetuity, the Community Associations Institute said.