In the Pennsylvania suburbs, the basic cable rates in dozens of towns were deregulated in 2008, according to the FCC data.
The towns included Bensalem, Hulmeville, Upper Makefield, Hatfield, Ambler, Horsham, East Pikeland, Upper Gwynedd, Upper Merion, East Goshen, East Whiteland, West Chester, Upper Moreland and Radnor. Comcast cited the entrance of the Verizon FiOS TV in its petition.
The regulated prices for basic cable service guaranteed access for low-income households to news and information services, said Joel Kelsey, policy analyst with the Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.
He was concerned that basic cable rates are deregulated when a phone company enters a local TV market. But the phone company may not wire the TV business to all the homes in a town.
So, in effect, there isn't competition in the whole town. "We think competition is a good thing but we think uneven competition can lead to many consumers paying more," Kelsey said.
2008 was a banner year for cable companies seeking to deregulate basic cable rates.
No. of Towns
Year Deregulated
2001 183
2002 269
2003 94
2004 270
2005 1,062
2006 344
2007 578
2008 3,860
2009 355*
Source: Federal Communications Commission
|
|
|
|
|
|
PHILLY.COM INDICES WATCH
Business newsletter
Philly.com business voices
MOST POPULAR PHILLY.COM PHOTOS
Philly.com Promotions
