Prior to October 31, 2007, if you lived in an apartment complex, you had no choice on who your cable TV service provider was. On that date, the “FCC voted to retroactively prohibit exclusive agreements between apartment firms and video service (cable) providers,” as noted in this release from the National Multi Housing Council (NMHC). The NMHC cites all sorts of reasons which the decision was bad for the consumer. The primary reason is that the apartment complex management companies could purportedly negotiate lower fees for their residents.
I have lived in an “Equity Residential” apartment for four years now. When I got here, Cox was the cable provider and it still is. I had, and still have, no other options for cable TV. I can recall nothing as relates to my agreement with Equity Residential that gives me any benefit or deal with Cox because of that agreement. All transactions that I have made with Cox have been exclusively through myself, not through Equity Residential.
According to the previously cited release, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as recently as May 26, 2009, upheld the FCC’s decision. Yet, a year and half after the initial decision, I still have no options available to me other than Cox cable in my Equity Residential managed apartment. Most galling is the fact that multi housing managerial concerns believe that negotiating an exclusivity agreement for telecom services is best for their renters. I certainly agree that that might be the case when it comes to utilities, gas and electric, and services such as trash removal, recycling, and landscaping, but for something as personal as TV, the resident has to be able to make the final decision.