Boston Mayor Thomas Menino thinks Comcast has gone too far by raising basic cable rates that hiked the price over 60 percent in the past three years, and he's asked the FCC for permission to again regulate cable prices in the city.
"Comcast is taking advantage of deregulation so we are going to file a petition with the FCC asking that basic rate regulation return to Boston," Menino told the Boston Globe. "These aren't reasonable rates and that's what I want."
Menino pointed to outlying communities which still regulate cable to prove his point. In nearby Cambridge, basic cable is $7.30 a month; in Boston it's $15.80, he said.
"We're taking the brunt of the increases," he said.
The FCC deregulated cable rates in Boston in 2002 because it claimed that RCN provided competitive service. According to the newspaper article, though, RCN provides service to only "a handful of residents."
Comcast declined to comment on the Globe story.
For more:
- Boston.com has this story
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