MTE Broadband Order 'Unnecessary': Real Estate Group

The FCC's pending order on broadband access in multi-tenant environments is "unnecessary" and would "hamper deployment and limit competition," said the National Multifamily Housing Council in separate meetings with aides to all commissioners, per an ex parte filing Wednesday in docket 17-142 (see 2201210039). "Regulation is not needed in market-rate apartment communities, and the kinds of rules proposed in this docket will not solve the true problems in low-income communities," NMHC said, saying the proposed ban on sale-and-leaseback agreements should be "narrowly targeted to address the stated concern that cable companies are transferring their ownership of inside wiring to building owners so as to avoid certain regulatory obligations." It asked the FCC to close its docket on the issue if it adopts the order.