The Federal Communications Commission has adopted rules barring telephone providers from entering into exclusive contracts to provide telecommunications services in residential apartment buildings. The Commission said existing contracts that contain exclusivity provisions are immediately rendered null and void.
The commission said exclusive agreements between carriers and building owners hurt consumers and harm competition, with little evidence of countervailing benefits. Moreover, the FCC said exclusive contracts have blocked access by consumers to competitive and popular "triple-play" offerings of voice, video and broadband.
Opening the door to competitive telecommunications services will help provide consumers with increased access to and choice of such providers, the commission said.
The commission's action was not unexpected. It had previously supported efforts to expand competition for communications services in apartment buildings and other multiple tenant environments, or MTEs.
In 2007, the Commission banned exclusive deals for video services in residential apartment buildings, and in 2000, the Commission prohibited exclusive contracts for telecommunications services in commercial MTEs.
The order provides regulatory parity between telecommunications and video service providers in the increasingly competitive market for bundled services, the commission said.
