Clyburn Blasts Price Hikes
FCC regulator Mignon Clyburn Wednesday criticized broadband providers for raising their rates as the FCC works to bring broadband Internet service to more Americans.
In a statement, Clyburn noted that on Tuesday when she announced the FCC's proposal to create a National Digital Literacy Corps to help educate Americans unfamiliar with computers and the Internet, "I learned that another major broadband provider is raising its rates for its lowest tiers of broadband service." Comcast recently informed its customers that it would be raising its rates on its lower-priced broadband tiers by $2 a month, DSLReports.com reported Tuesday.
She lamented that "just as we are in the process of proposing steps to ensure that more people are comfortable signing up for broadband service, providers of that very service are raising prices."
Clyburn said the FCC should more closely examine the issue of rising broadband costs, noting that 36 percent of those surveyed say they have not adopted broadband because of a cost-related reason. "Across-the-board price increases, especially on those who can least afford it, should raise a red flag for the commission," she said. "When prices rise across the industry, and where there are only a limited number of players in the game, we have to ask ourselves whether there is any meaningful competition in the marketplace."
Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury defended the price hike, saying the cable and broadband provider hasn't "increased the price of our service in more than five years and about half of our customers are currently in promotions and won't be impacted by this change. ... We've invested billions of dollars to deliver broadband service to 99 percent of the homes in our footprint and will continue to invest to increase speeds and add features customers want and value."
The public interest group Free Press applauded Clyburn for "tackling the issue of competition in the broadband market head-on," the group's policy director, Ben Scott, said in a news release. "For too long, the FCC has avoided confronting the competition problem, leaving American consumers and business at the mercy of the phone and cable companies."
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