If there's any doubt about the meaning of Section 543 of the Cable Act, barring state or federal cable rate regulation, the court should narrowly construe the provision against preemption, because the Supreme Court has historically been quite clear on that point, Maine told U.S. District Court in Bangor Tuesday in a reply in support of its motion to dismiss (in Pacer, docket 20-cv-00168). It said Charter Communications, challenging the state requiring prorated refunds when cable customers end service partway through a billing cycle (see 2005210004), hasn't shown the state law in any way alters the rate structure of cable services being provided. Charter didn't comment Wednesday.

Cable One will get a minority stake in Hargray Communications and Hargray will get Cable One's Alabama assets in a deal announced Tuesday. Hargray said the transaction is expected to close in the fall, pending regulatory OK.

Wall Street's recent bearishness toward cable companies may reflect concerns a Joe Biden presidency would mean Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband service, legislation on net neutrality or even overt price regulation, MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett wrote investors Tuesday. He said reclassification by a Democratic FCC would likely be shot down by the Supreme Court long before price regulation could happen. Regulatory attention on Big Tech, and away from cable, seems to point to a regulatory outlook for cable that's "less scary" than it has been for years, even under a Democratic administration, he said.

Cable companies' Wi-Fi-centric mobile virtual network operators continued to have success luring customers from mobile networks operators, with Comcast, Charter and Altice ending Q1 with 3.75 million such subscriptions, GlobalData said Monday. It said much wireless traffic that otherwise would have gone over cellular networks was carried on residential Wi-Fi due to the pandemic, saving those MVNOs cellular usage fees they would have had to pay their network partners. COVID-19 will likely hinder subscriber adds in Q2 for all mobile operators and MVNOs, it said.

The FCC proposal that C-band earth station technology upgrade costs be reviewed and approved after MVPD earth station operators opt for lump sum reimbursement will deter the operators from going that route and "eviscerate the myriad policy benefits of the lump sum mechanism," ACA Connects representatives told Wireless Bureau staffers, per a docket 18-122 posting Monday. Such a review process is unnecessary because the necessity and degree of technology upgrades for MVPDs transitioning earth stations into the upper portion of the C-band is highly predictable, it said. The group urged integrated receiver/decoder replacement costs stay within the lump sum reimbursement.

Few MVPDs, particularly small ones, can shoulder the big risk that comes with the FCC saying some C-band earth station relocation costs will be reviewed after those stations' operators opt for the lump sum, ACA Connects told aides to Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr as recapped in a docket 18-122 posting Thursday. It repeated its call (see 2006300085) to seek comment on a new proposed lump sum amount and to rework Wireless Bureau proposals.

Cable operators filing FCC Form 1240 can raise the non-external portion of their rates by 1.41% for Q1 to account for inflation, a Media Bureau public notice said Wednesday.

Sept. 30 is the deadline for MVPDs with six or more full-time workers to file Form 396-C equal employment opportunity program annual reports, the FCC Enforcement Bureau said Wednesday.

The YouTube TV vMVPD's monthly price is now $64.99, the $15 price hike due to increasing content costs, Google's YouTube blogged Tuesday. "It reflects the complete value of YouTube TV, from our breadth of content to the features that are changing how we watch live." It said it also introduced features including allowing users to jump to segments within news programs and to mark a show as "watched."

Charter received waiver removing 2,127 census blocks from the FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction eligibility list. "Charter has deployed or will soon deploy service to these blocks under a settlement agreement with the State of New York" related to the cable operator's past takeover of Time Warner Cable, said a staff order in Monday's Daily Digest.