Academy/Utilities & Infrastructure
Bulk cable/internet
What federal rule actually bans in exclusive cable and internet contracts, and what it leaves alone.
Federal rule voids any contract clause that gives one cable or internet provider exclusive rights to serve your community, including gated communities. Bulk billing is still legal. What is banned: exclusivity clauses, revenue sharing that grows with subscriber count, and undisclosed exclusive marketing deals, which must be disclosed to residents in plain language.
The exclusivity clause is void, not the contract
If your association's cable or internet contract says one provider is the only company allowed to serve the community, that specific clause has no legal effect. The FCC's rule covers a "multiple dwelling unit," and its definition names gated communities directly, so most associations qualify.
"No cable operator or other provider of MVPD service... shall enforce or execute any provision in a contract that grants to it the exclusive right to provide any video programming service... to a MDU. All such exclusivity clauses are null and void."
Source: 47 CFR 76.2000(a), Federal Communications Commission
This does not necessarily void the rest of the agreement, such as pricing or service terms. It voids the promise that no other provider may compete for residents' business.
Revenue sharing and marketing rights have their own limits
Two related arrangements are also restricted. A deal where a provider pays the association more per resident as its subscriber count inside the community rises is banned outright. A deal giving one provider the exclusive right to market to residents is allowed, but only if the association discloses it.
"Identify the existence of the contract and include a plain-language description of the arrangement, including that the provider has the exclusive right to market its communications services to tenants... [and] that such a right does not mean that the provider is the only entity that can provide such services."
Source: 47 CFR 76.2000(d), Federal Communications Commission
Bulk billing itself is still legal
Bulk billing, where the association pays one provider for service to every unit and folds the cost into assessments, is not banned. A 2024 federal proposal to prohibit bulk billing arrangements entirely was withdrawn before a vote. What the rule targets is narrower: the exclusivity clause, the per-tenant revenue-sharing formula, and an undisclosed exclusive marketing right, not the bulk arrangement as a whole.
Whether your community's current agreement contains other enforceable terms alongside a void exclusivity clause depends on the exact contract language your association signed. Read the actual document rather than assuming the whole thing is unenforceable or the whole thing stands.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A cable company's contract gives it the sole right to serve your gated community. What is the legal status of that clause?
A provider pays the association more per resident as its share of subscribers in the community grows. Is this arrangement legal?
Your association's internet provider holds an exclusive right to market its service to residents. What must happen?
Sources
- 47 CFR 76.2000, exclusive service contracts and MDU marketing disclosure, Federal Communications Commission
- Improving Competitive Broadband Access to Multiple Tenant Environments, Report and Order FCC 22-12, Federal Communications Commission
Utilities & Infrastructure
Want to know who is responsible for the wiring itself once it's inside a resident's unit? See Telecommunications.
Whether an existing contract contains other enforceable terms alongside a void exclusivity clause, and how a provider structures its marketing disclosure, varies by contract. Read your community's actual agreement to see what applies.