§571 Regulatory Treatment of Video Programming Services

Summary

Common carriers that deliver video to subscribers are treated differently depending on how they send it. If video is sent by radio, the carrier must follow subchapter III and section 572 only. If video is sent as a common-carrier transmission, the carrier must follow subchapter II and section 572 only (and this does not change how a facility is treated under section 522(7)(C) as a cable system). If video is provided in some other way, the carrier must follow this subchapter unless the video is supplied through an open video system with a Commission certification under section 573. If the open video system is certified under section 573, the carrier must follow this part, and parts I–IV of this subchapter only as section 573(c) says. Carriers covered by the radio or common-carrier rules may choose to use a certified open video system and, if approved under section 573, will be treated the same way. A local exchange carrier that offers cable service through an open video system or a cable system does not have to, under subchapter II, make capacity available on equal terms to others to provide cable service directly to subscribers. A common carrier does not have to get a certificate under section 214 to set up or run a video delivery system.