Cable Rate Regulation

Cable rates are unregulated in communities that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deems to have effective competition.

Effective competition

Effective Competition is defined by Section 623(l)(1) of the Federal Communications Act of 1934 as amended:

1. The term ''effective competition'' means that--
   1. Fewer than 30 percent of the households in the franchise area subscribe to the cable service of a cable system;
   2. The franchise area is--
      • Served by at least two unaffiliated multichannel video programming distributors each of which offers comparable video programming to at least 50 percent of the households in the franchise area; and
      • The number of households subscribing to programming services offered by multichannel video programming distributors other than the largest multichannel video programming distributor exceeds 15 percent of the households in the franchise area;
   3. A multichannel video programming distributor operated by the franchising authority for that franchise area offers video programming to at least 50 percent of the households in that franchise area; or
   4. A local exchange carrier or its affiliate (or any multichannel video programming distributor using the facilities of such carrier or its affiliate) offers video programming services directly to subscribers by any means (other than direct-to-home satellite services) in the franchise area of an unaffiliated cable operator which is providing cable service in that franchise area, but only if the video programming services so offered in that area are comparable to the video programming services provided by the unaffiliated cable operator in that area.

FCC Orders granting effective competition

FCC Charter Order - FCC 19-110 

Auburn	Hadley	Southampton
Belchertown	Hampden	Spencer
Brimfield	Harvard	Stockbridge
Brookfield	Holden	Sturbridge
Charlton	Lee	Upton
Chicopee	Lenox	Uxbridge
Dalton	Ludlow	West Boylston
Dudley	Paxton	West Brookfield
East Brookfield	Pepperell	Wilbraham
East Longmeadow	Pittsfield	Worcester
Easthampton	Richmond

FCC Comcast/Cox Order - DA 20-1461

Acushnet	Gardner	Plainville
Agawam	Gloucester	Provincetown
Amesbury	Granby	Quincy
Amherst	Greenfield	Rehoboth
Attleboro	Groveland	Rockport
Avon	Hanson	Salem
Berkley	Harwich	Saugus
Beverly	Hatfield	Scituate
Blackstone	Haverhill	Sharon
Bridgewater	Holland	Somerset
Brockton	Holyoke	South Hadley
Buckland	Hyannis	Southwick
Cambridge	Lancaster	Springfield
Carlisle	Longmeadow	Sunderland
Chatham	Lowell	Swansea
Clinton	Manchester	Templeton
Concord	Merrimac	Ware
Dartmouth	Milton	Warren
Deerfield	Montague	Wellfleet
Dennis	New Bedford	West Bridgewater
Dighton	Newbury	West Springfield
Dracut	Newburyport	Westfield
East Bridgewater	Northampton	Westhampton
Eastham	Norton	Weymouth
Essex	Orleans	Whitman
Fairhaven	Palmer	Williamsburg
Falmouth	Peabody	Winthrop
Fall River	Pelham	Yarmouth
Freetown

FCC Comcast Order - DA 16-1389

Boston

FCC Time Warner Order - DA 16-611

Adams

FCC Comcast Order - DA 16-437

Ashby	Holliston	Norfolk
Ashland	Hopedale	North Andover
Bellingham	Hull	Norwell
Billerica	Lakeville	Randolph
Chelmsford	Leominster	Shirley
Cohasset	Marblehead	Stow
Danvers	Maynard	Templeton
Dover	Medway	Topsfield
Duxbury	Mendon	Walpole
Easton	Middleton	Wayland
Foxborough	Milford	Weston
Hanover	Millis	Wrentham
Hingham

FCC Public Notice - DA 15-1441

Chelsea

Malden

Medford

FCC Time Warner Order - DA 15-164

Adams

Clarksburg

North Adams

FCC Order - DA 14-407 and FCC Erratum - DA 14-586

Mansfield	Revere	Tauton
North Attleboro

FCC Charter Order - DA 13-2197

Boylston

Leicester

Northbridge

FCC Charter Order - DA 13-2008

Auburn	Hinsdale	Southborough
Barre	Hubbardston	Southbridge
Berlin	Lanesborough	Sutton
Brookfield	Millbury	Upton
Charlton	Millville	Uxbridge
Douglas	North Brookfield	Webster
Dudley	Northborough	West Brookfield
Dunstable	Oakham	West Stockbridge
East Brookfield	Oxford	Westborough
Grafton	Pepperell	Westport
Groton	Rutland	Worcester

FCC Time Warner Order - DA 11-270

Cheshire

FCC Comcast Order - DA 10-847

Braintree

FCC Comcast Order - DA 10-848

Bedford	Mattapoisett	Norwood
Canton	Medfield	Rochester
Lawrence	Melrose	Tyngsborough
Lynnfield	Methuen	Wilmington
Marion	Middleborough

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-2632

Salisbury

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-2633

Rowley

Sherborn

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-1594

Abington	Falmouth	Plymouth
Aquinnah	Halifax	Plympton
Bourne	Kingston	Rockland
Carver	Marshfield	Sandwich
Chilmark	Oak Bluffs	Tisbury
Edgartown	Pembroke	West Tisbury

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-1507

Acton	Ipswich	Sudbury
Andover	Lincoln	Swampscott
Belmont	Littleton	Tewksbury
Boxborough	Lynn	Wellesley
Boxford	Marlborough	Wenham
Franklin	Nahant	West Newbury
Georgetown	North Reading	Westwood
Hamilton	Reading	Winchester
Hopkinton	Stoneham	Woburn

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-1334

Fitchburg	Nantucket Island	Westminster
Lunenburg	Truro

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-1215

Brookline	Natick	Waltham
Burlington	Wakefield	Watertown
Framingham

FCC Comcast Order - DA 08-773

Ashburnham	Gill	Seekonk
Ayer	Granville	Shelburne
Bernardston	Hardwick	Townsend
Chester	Hudson	Wareham
Conway	Huntington	Westford
Erving	Monson	Winchendon
Everett	Northfield

FCC Time Warner Order - DA 08-875

Athol	Orange	Sheffield
Great Barrington

FCC MediaOne Order - DA 03-28

Dedham

Needham

FCC AT&T Order - DA 02-3376

Lexington

FCC MediaOne Order - DA 99-1686

Arlington

Newton

FCC Time Warner Order - DA 99-285

Somerville

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirms FCC ruling that AT&T TV Now streaming service provides effective competition to cable

On December 18, 2020, the First Circuit denied the Department’s appeal of an FCC Order that found that AT&T TV Now constitutes effective competition to Charter.  As a result of this ruling, there is currently no regulation of cable rates.  The Department had been the last government agency in the country to have maintained any form of cable rate regulation.  MADTC v FCC