Cable consumers should be provided with independent factual infor...
Cable consumers should be provided with independent factual information on why cable rates continue to rise, rather than rely on data provided to FCC by industry, Senate Commerce Committee ranking Republican McCain (Ariz.) said. McCain asked General Accounting Office…
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(GAO) Tues. to conduct inquiry and to have FCC provide data support to GAO as it reviewed causes of increasing rates. He said in letters to GAO and FCC Chmn. Powell “there are 2 sure signs of spring in Washington: The arrival of tourists to enjoy the cherry blossoms, and the release of the FCC report that cable rates have risen in the previous year.” He said those increases significantly outpaced what had been charged for other consumer goods and services: “In fact, since the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, cable rates have skyrocketed 36%, almost 3 times the rate of inflation [ROI].” McCain specifically asked GAO to determine: (1) Whether it could substantiate justification for increases cable operators provide to FCC. (2) Additional reasons why rising rates exceeded ROI. (3) Why 6.3% difference existed between rates charged by competitive and noncompetitive cable companies. (4) “To the extent that the increase in cable rates is attributable to the higher cost of programming, what flexibility do cable operators have to package their consumer offerings so that consumers can choose to pay only for the programming they wish to receive?” (5) Possible steps Congress could take to address increased cable rates. NCTA acknowledged it was aware of McCain letter, but hadn’t provided response by our deadline.