What does MATV mean ?
MATV is an abreviation for Master Antenna Television
What does CATV mean ?
CATV is an abreviation for Community Antenna Television
What is the difference ?
A Master Antenna System serves one distinct community such as Heritage Village.
A Community Antenna Television System serves a geographic area and in Connecticut is overseen by the Ct. Dept.of Utility Control and is highly regulated. This is how Charter operates as,CATV.
The regulations governing operation of a CATV system versus a MATV system are complex, but generally a MATV system such as Heritage Villages's can retransmit only free to air broadcast channels and can use the road crossing easements as long as we are "not for hire".
This determination was a result of a CT.DPUC ruling in 1986 contesting the legality of private cable television in Conn.
A cable company, CATV, must purchase their programming and pay retransmission fees to the broadcasters.
A MATV system does not have to pay retransmission fees, as long as we are not for hire and retransmit only free to air broadcasts.
Free to air means any station that transmits through the public airwaves an unscrambled signal that can be recieved with an antenna, such as our local channels from Ct, NY and Long Island.
In future posts, I hope to touch on legal and technical constraints regarding the operation of
HV MATV.
If you have any comments or questions, please post them on this blog or e mail me and I will attempt to provide a clear answer.
Thanks,
Jeff
