A federal appeals court in Cincinnati on Friday upheld rules adopted by the FCC that made it easier for Verizon, AT&T and others to enter new markets to compete with existing cable companies. The court held that the FCC was within its authority in setting time deadlines for local governments to act on cable franchise applications. The FCC rule adopted in December 2006 gave cities and towns 90 days to act on new applications – with grants to be automatic if no action was taken within that time period. The lawsuit seeking to overturn the rule was brought by a number of local governments and major MSOs.
