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JACKSON (WNE) — Jackson has joined two other towns in filing a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission in response to the NBC channel blackout for Charter/Spectrum cable customers.

The town of Jackson filed the petition March 15, along with Yuma, Arizona, and El Centro, California, which have also lost channel access for six weeks due to the fee dispute between Charter Communications and Northwest Broadcasting.

The letter accuses Charter Communications, parent company of Spectrum, of violating federal rules that require cable companies to provide advance notice to subscribers and municipalities before deleting a channel or effectively increasing rates by reducing service.

“No notice was provided to subscribers, or to the Municipalities, prior to Charter’s removal of the channels,” the petition reads.

It calls upon the FCC to declare Charter in violation and order it to pay penalties and refund subscribers.

Washington, D.C.-based telecommunications attorney Joe Van Eaton filed the petition. He said Charter has 20 days to respond to the complaint. After that the municipalities have an opportunity to reply within 10 days.

“At that point it’s up to the FCC how quickly it acts or doesn’t act,” Van Eaton said.

The FCC can find Charter in violation and punish it with a fine and refunds for customers.

Customers of Charter-owned Spectrum cable have not been able to access NBC programming for more than six weeks. The area’s NBC affiliate, KPVI, was cut off Feb. 2 due to a fee dispute between Charter and Northwest Broadcasting, the owner of the region’s NBC affiliate based in Idaho Falls. Subscribers were unable to watch the Super Bowl and the Olympics and continue to lack NBC programs.