THE PRACTICE - DEPARTING FCC CHAIRMAN WANTS CABLE COMPANIES FINED

DEPARTING FCC CHAIRMAN WANTS CABLE COMPANIES FINED

Outgoing FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has proposed that fines be leveled against the nation's top cable operators for allegedly failing to provide documents to the commission related to their rate increases for migrating analog channels to digital. Martin said that the FCC had received nearly 600 complaints from cable subscribers about the practice, which he called "unacceptable." The cable companies he said, "did not provide the commission with all of the information we requested."When cable operators migrate analog channels to a digital tier, consumers are forced to pay more if they wish to continue watching the same channels," Martin said in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison. "Or, consumers may continue to pay the same amount to watch fewer channels. This is not the type of consumer choice that the Communications Act envisions."

21/01/2009