Geekwire reports that Kirkland-based Wave Broadband filed a complaint with the FCC Wednesday against Comcast, alleging that the cable giant has engaged in unfair business practices by requiring Wave to bundle NBC Sports regional channels into Wave’s basic cable package. Wave says this will force consumers to purchase high-priced channels they don’t want and significantly increase the cost to consumers.
“If Comcast Sports Nets prevails in forcing Wave to bundle its channels in the Local Broadcast tier, all video subscribers would then be forced to subscribe to this bundled channel package at a content cost of more than $70 per month—with consumers paying for more channels than they are interested in viewing,” said Wave in a press release.
In a statement, NBCUniversal (which Comcast acquired in 2009) said it is “mystified” by the complaint. Wave, like Comcast, is also an internet service provider, and it is in the process of being purchased by TPG Capitol, along with RCN Telecom Services and Grande Communications Networks. It will soon form the sixth largest internet/cable company in the U.S. in a deal worth $2.36 billion.
“Wave’s sale to RCN and a private equity group is expected to close within a month,” said NBCUniversal in a statement, “so NBCUniversal offered an extension until they come under new ownership and has separately offered marketplace terms to RCN for continued carriage on these systems thereafter. NBCUniversal has engaged with them fairly, on the same terms as other distributors. Their purported claim is without merit.”
This is disputed by Steve Weed, Wave CEO, who said, “Our goal at Wave is to provide our customers with choice and control over the content they receive. Comcast’s sports division is attempting to force all video customers to subscribe to a single bundled channel package versus the choices we now offer—reducing consumer options and dramatically increasing costs.”
After the merger with RCN goes through, which is expected to be finalized by January pending regulatory approval, Wave spokesperson Mark Peterson told The Stranger that services and prices will not change, nor will Wave’s stance on net neutrality. While telecom giants like Comcast, AT&T, and Charter/Spectrum stand to profit handsomely from the repeal of net neutrality, Wave, according to Peterson, has been “a proponent of an open and free Internet since the company was founded in 2003.”
“To that end, nothing changes for Wave customers,” Peterson says. “Specifically, Wave has never and will not take money from content providers to make their sites faster than competitors; impede the performance from providers whose services compete with ours; block or throttle consumer access based on Internet content; track our users’ Internet activity; or sell our customers’ information.” As for that cable package? Now it’s up for the FCC to decide.
