Under the federal Cable Act, as amended in 1996, a “cable operator” may not provide “cable service” over a “cable system” without a franchise from the appropriate local government authority. From an FCC perspective, colleges and universities providing cable TV programming typically are not considered to be cable operators providing cable service over a cable system.
Click here for pop up window with cable system definition. The definition of “cable system” excludes “a facility that serves subscribers without using any public right-of-way.”The definition of a "cable system" includes the term "Subscribers." Subscribers are defined in 47C.F.R.
§76(ee) as "A member of the general public who receives broadcast programming distributed by a cable television system and does not further distribute it." Students, staff and faculty are not usually considered members of the general public.
All facilities providing Cable TV are subject to FCC regulations, though the regulations for facilities deemed not to be a "cable system" are minimal (Click here for summary of regulations). Even in cases where college and university networks have minimally crossed public rights of way or provided limited service to general public in the form of off campus student housing or college owned hospitality facilities, the FCC has generally not made attempts to regulate such systems as "cable systems." A search of the communities registered with the FCC shows only a few school systems that were typically registered through the local cable operator (
FCC registered communities pop up window).
