Cable prices creep up
Posted by Joseph Brochin
The FCC released a study that shows the average monthly bill for cable TV shot up by more than the nations overall inflation rate of 3 percent.
Cable basic only service climbed to 3.3 percent, while basic-plus rose 5.2 percent and expanded-basic rose 6.2 percent.
Now the bright side of this is that this extreme climb is in places with no competition. In locations where communities have allowed competition the rise was much smaller, but no stats could be found to compare.
Opening up competition in our local communities in the cable industry is a must. We have to allow other competition in to stop these local monopolies. As time goes on and with all the mergers in the telecomm industry, you may see a push in the upcoming years to move into the cable world by merging or purchasing some regional cable companies.
Would this improve competition? Not sure yet. At least now we have a choice of going satellite TV, DSL with the local phone company, as well as VOIP with our ISP or other provider. But what happens when the local phone company gets its mits in the cable pot?
