The Communications Policy and Regulation Division advises the county on matters pertaining to cable and telecommunications. This work includes monitoring activity at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Congress, and the Virginia General Assembly. It may also include preparing or assisting with filings on behalf of the county in administrative or judicial proceedings.
Some previous FCC filings by the County are noted below.
Blackout rebates (2024): In January 2024, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that would require cable operators and direct broadcast satellite providers to give their subscribers rebates when the subscribers were deprived of video programming they expected to receive during programming blackouts resulting from failed retransmission consent negotiations or failed non-broadcast carriage negotiations. The County, along with other local communities and associations, filed brief reply comments supporting the FCC’s proposal.
Reply Comments of Fairfax County et al. (4/8/2024)
All-in pricing for Cable and Satellite Television Service (2023). The FCC in June 2023 proposed pricing transparency rules that would require cable and satellite TV operators to publish so-called “all-in” prices of their services. The all-in price would include all of the various fees and charges that typically are listed separately, causing customer confusion and making it difficult for consumers to comparison shop among video service providers. The County joined a coalition of local governments and filed comments and reply comments in the proceeding in support of the FCC’s proposal.
Local Governments Comments All-In Pricing Docket
Local Governments Reply Comments All-In Pricing Docket
Wireless Zoning and Siting (2016-2017). In late 2016, the FCC called for comments on a petition by a wireless tower owner named Mobilitie arguing that the FCC should preempt local zoning authority over wireless equipment. The county filed comments in the Mobilitie proceeding as part of a coalition of local communities. The county also filed comments in a successor proceeding on wireless broadband deployment.
• Comments of the Virginia Joint Communities in Mobilitie proceeding (3/8/2017)
• Comments of Fairfax County, Virginia (6/15/2017)
• Reply Comments of Fairfax County, Virginia (7/17/2017)
Status of Video Competition (2007). In January 2007, Fairfax County filed information with the FCC regarding the price of bundled and standalone cable services, the benefits of local franchise build-out requirements, the speed with which Fairfax County negotiated its most recent cable franchise, and the amount of locally-produced, foreign language and closed-captioned programming being televised on county public, educational, and governmental access channels. The FCC used this information to provide its 13th annual report to Congress regarding the market for the delivery of video programming.
• State of Competition for Video Programming (MB Docket No. 06-189)
• Executive Summary Only
• Key Points (not part of the FCC filing)