Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Co. v. Maryland/Delaware Cable Television Ass'n

COLE, Judge.

The question before us in this appeal is whether the Public Service Commission of Maryland (PSC) has jurisdiction to regulate “pole attachment” agreements between utility companies and cable television companies.

We set forth the following facts to place the issue in proper focus. Cable television companies provide programming to their subscribers by running coaxial cables, either underground or above ground on poles, from their transmission centers to the television sets of their customers. Because of practical, economic, and aesthetic reasons, nearly all cable television lines…