EXCLUSIVE: FCC chief slams cable rates

You can say the same thing about cell phone service.

Finally the FCC is speaking out about this. Wish they did something , say, five years ago and not six months before this guy is out of a job. Well, at least the conversation has started.

I already ditched my cell phone and my DirectTV account shall be cancelled as soon as the contract expires one year from now. I can watch most programs I like on the Internet or purchase DVD's for entertainment. If all this "businessmen" can come up is new ways of ripping off people, they don't deserve to be in business. Refuse to buy and someone will come in to fill the needs of the market.

You think cable is bad? Wait until you figure out how AT&T is sticking it to you.

I have dish satellite and never watch 80 channels!...Biggest rip off!.They know how to put the best Channels in Certain packages.....

Being in the military, I have had to live in a lot of different places. At each new place it seems like I am getting gouged by another cable monopoly. There was a bill floating around Congress that pushed for an "a la carte" type cable line-up. I would be all for it. Unfortunately, I think this big business is just another with its thumb on Congress

NCTA is full of it. I had the old C/KU band (big dish) satellite system and there was lots of competitors selling programming. Many of them had a la carte as well as packages. If people don't want a la carte they don't have to buy it and can stick with a package. Many of the providers would sell channels for anywhere from less than a dollar per month to a couple of dollars per month depending on the channel (I exclude premium movie channels since I never ordered any and never looked at the prices). Now I have DirectTV and they mostly package up their programming although there is lots of a la carte choices for sports. I only went to DirectTV because the NFL struck an exclusive deal with DirectTV and stopped the C/KU band programming services from selling the NFL Sunday Ticket that I had been buying for years. I had my system for the NFL so I swtiched to DirectTC and I went from 5 or 6 providers that competed for my yearly NFL subscription where I typically paid anywhere from $99 - $119 for the NFL to paying $249 per year to DirectTV (now $350 a year since DirectTV charges an extra $99 for high-def NFL games). So I wrote my Senators and Senator McCain (I believe he was chairman of the committee overseeing the FCC). I complained that the NFL was effectively extending their anti-trust exemption to DirectTV and I thought that was totally unfair since my prices more than doubled because now there was absolutely no competition to sell me the NFL Sunday Ticket. My Senator wrote back that it was an FCC issue and forwarded my concerns to the FCC. Great constituient support, or so I thought. The FCC sent me a nice letter informing me that since the NFL was involved and were exempt from anti-trust laws it was an issue for Congress not the FCC and that I should contact my Congressman. And why is it that a Republican is the one trying to change this rip-off while Democrats are doing what they can to keep the status quo? I thought Democrats were the champions of the consumers and not the party of big business (cable in this case). The only reason Dingell is going after Martin is that Martin came in pushing a la carte (cable worked hard to keep him off the FCC) and continues to do so (I have followed this for a couple of years since C/KU providers offered a la carte).

If you think the Cable Guys are ripping you off, you ought to take a close look at the internet providers. Compared to more modern countries than the BACKWARDS LOOKING USA, the people are getting ripped off off BIG TIME. Where, pray tell, are the low cost, high speed connections enjoyed by South Koreans, for example? Our Congress is made up of CROOKS, BIG TIME CROOKS, who put their bribe incomes and personal slush funds WAY ahead of the people. Anyone who votes for an incumbent in the House or Senate has to be the dumbest jerk in town.

It doesn’t help that large cable companies force homeowners and renters to pay a cable bill they can’t afford. Yet the media doesn’t cover this issue. Visit www.banbulkbilling.com. For years cable companies and even satellite providers have created contracts with buildings, MDUs, HOA’s and other communities with exclusive bulk cable agreements, which forces all living in them to pay regardless if they want the service or not. These deals remove the collection cost on the cable provider onto those property owners while they provide kick backs to the developers and land lords at the cost of customers. While all of this is legal, because of the red tape, legal loop holes in old regulations as well as the FCC’s lack on enforcement. It is a shame that the agency that was setup to protect our rights is the one hindering competition. I hope to see some change soon as new technologies emerge and other countries are exceeding our technology, we continue to pay more and receive less while cable companies and large telecos profit. If Mr. Martin has no plans to move then at least prove why he should stay. Please stop Bulk Billing Contracts and their monopolistic tactics!! Show those high priced attorneys/lobbyist on the docket they can’t create policy. Regards, Bulk Billing Victim in FL