For Immediate Release
Contact: Kelly Wismer, (703) 351-2015, [email protected]
Arlington, Va. (January 18, 2018)—NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association released the following statement from Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs and Business Development Michael Romano regarding the new live TV streaming service being offered by locast.org. Although broadcasters have objected to the legality of the service, locast.org asserts that its nonprofit status permits airing of such programming without the need to pay broadcasters in doing so.
“The offering by locast.org represents an innovative response to consumer demand for content in the face of a failing marketplace and increasing prices. Indeed, the fact that there is even a debate over the emergence of such services underscores the need for policymakers to address the underlying retransmission regime—antiquated and broken rules developed in a bygone era that undermine innovation and defy any logical concept of a ‘marketplace.’ The fact that broadcasters can extract ever-escalating sums for what would otherwise be free over-the-air transmissions—or worse still, when small providers like those in NTCA’s membership must pay broadcasters for the ‘privilege’ of carrying a broadcast signal to consumers, some of whom the signal would never otherwise reach—demonstrates how skewed reality is in this so-called ‘marketplace.’ However this dispute is resolved, it highlights that it’s time for real reform, and it’s beyond time to dispel any farfetched notion that this is a ‘marketplace’ at all.”
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NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association is the premier association representing nearly 850 independent, community-based telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. NTCA advocates on behalf of its members in the legislative and regulatory arenas, and it provides training and development; publications and industry events; and an array of employee benefit programs. In an era of transformative technological advancements, regulatory challenges and marketplace competition, NTCA members are leading the technological evolution for rural consumers, delivering robust and high-quality services over future-proof networks that make rural communities vibrant places in which to live and do business. Because of their efforts, rural America is fertile ground for innovation in economic development, e-commerce, health care, agriculture and education, and it contributes billions of dollars to the U.S. economy each year.