Comcast DTV pricing response may bring fine: FCC

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Comcast Corp could be fined for its inadequate response to a Federal Communications Commission request for information on cable company policies as they switch to digital signals, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said on Tuesday.

The U.S. FCC sent letters earlier this month to about a dozen businesses -- mostly cable companies -- after receiving complaints that some are ratcheting up prices for programing packages or requiring customers to buy digital set-top boxes for fewer channels ahead of the digital switch on February 17.

Some of the companies have failed to respond completely and may face fines or other enforcement action, Martin told a panel discussing telecommunications policy in Washington.

He specifically noted Comcast's response.

"They didn't even answer the questions directly. They had a narrative," Martin said.

A Comcast spokesperson said the company would meet the FCC and noted it would have taken 1,500 man-hours to compile one year's worth of what the commission had requested.

The industry contends the FCC lacks authority to demand such information because it does not have the power to limit cable television rates. The FCC does regulate basic cable tiers and consumer notice of programing changes.

Martin and consumer groups have long complained about cable television prices rising when rates for other technologies, such as cellphones, have fallen. Cable television prices nearly doubled in the decade ended in 2005, according to the FCC.