(a) Franchising authorities may apply for joint certification and may engage in joint regulation, including, but not limited to, joint hearings, data collection, and ratemaking. Franchising authorities jointly certified to regulate their cable system(s) may make independent rate decisions.

(b) Franchising authorities may apply for joint certification regardless of whether the authorities are served by the same cable system or by different cable systems and regardless of whether the rates in each franchising area are uniform.