Comcast Corp. was cleared Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission of accusations that it violated agency rules by offering promotions designed to stop customers from defecting to a competing cable company.
WideOpenWest Holdings LLC filed the complaint nearly two years ago, alleging that Comcast's customer-retention and win-back promotions violated FCC rules because the MSO had failed to inform all subscribers of the various discount offers on the table.
WOW -- which competes with Comcast in 42 Detroit-area communities -- suggested that Comcast's practices were an illegal attempt to use its market power to drive WOW out of business.
But in a unanimous ruling, the five FCC members concluded that Comcast's limited-term discounts did not meet the agency standard of "systemic abuse" of the agency's cable-consumer-protection rules.
In dismissing the complaint, the commission noted that WOW could take its dispute to local regulators, file an antitrust suit, or file a new FCC complaint alleging that Comcast violated rules requiring a uniform rate structure.
