CWA Presses for FCC Audit of AT&T Broadband Cable Television Franchises: Preliminary Investigation F

Washington, D.C. - AT&T Broadband is failing to publicly disclose information required by the Federal Communications Commission and should be penalized for violations of the public disclosure rules for cable television franchises, the Communications Workers of America told the FCC.

In a preliminary survey of a dozen AT&T broadband franchise locations, CWA found that AT&T management refused public access to the records; did not make the files available to the public; and maintained incomplete and out-of-date information.

As a result of these findings, CWA is calling for a full FCC audit of AT&T Broadband cable franchises to determine and ensure compliance with these rules and technical standards. "The commission also should levy a financial penalty on AT&T Broadband commensurate with the record of violation of these rules," the union added.

Especially troubling is the failure of AT&T franchises to maintain complete signal leakage logs and proof-of-performance records that would demonstrate whether or not the company is meeting the FCC's technical standards for cable operators, CWA pointed out.

These initial results - particularly that 25 percent of locations refused to make any public file available - are very disturbing and call for immediate action by the FCC, the union stressed.

This is just the latest example of AT&T's disregard for public disclosure obligations, CWA said.

Andrew Schwartzman, president and chief executive officer of Media Access Project, noted that last year, the FCC fined AT&T Broadband for its failure to file ownership reports with the FCC. "This newest complaint shows that AT&T Broadband has not changed, but continues its arrogant disregard for the public right to information regarding the operations of its monopoly cable franchises. The FCC must take this complaint very seriously," he said.

Click here to read the full CWA filing.