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C4CC Urges Massachusetts Legislature to Encourage Cable Competition
Boston, MA (June 5, 2007) – A robust and competitive cable market is the surefire way to achieve lower prices and better service for consumers. The Massachusetts legislature should nurture that competition and resist calls for more of the status quo, Consumers for Cable Choice (C4CC) told the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Energy and Utilities during today’s hearing on the Cable Choice and Competition Act.
"The cable marketplace is broken, leaving consumers with abysmal customer service and runaway prices,” said C4CC president Robert K. Johnson in today’s testimony before the committee. "That is especially the case in Massachusetts, where Comcast is the dominant provider."
Johnson cited a recent University of Michigan study, which showed that Comcast's customer satisfaction rating was at a historic low. At the same time, Comcast raised rates and its net revenues soared 175 percent.
"It’s time for Massachusetts to join the states that are already benefiting from the economic development and job growth that only competition can bring,” Johnson said. “If passed, this bill will open doors far beyond cable and bring the Commonwealth all components of the full telecommunications sector.”
To date, 11 states have passed legislation to streamline outdated municipal cable franchise rules into consumer-friendly, investment-attracting state laws that open the monopoly cable industry to competition. In Texas, the first state to enact statewide cable competition, cable television rates dropped as much as 25 percent once the incumbent cable monopoly faced competition. In Indiana, communications companies have invested more than $250 million in building broadband networks since statewide cable choice was enacted there.
For every $100 million a company invests in building broadband networks, as many as 1,000 jobs are created, according to industry estimates. TeleNomic Research found that Massachusetts could enjoy the creation of nearly 3,000 new jobs if cable choice legislation were passed.
About Consumers for Cable Choice – www.Consumers4Choice.org
C4CC is a national alliance of consumer advocacy groups and private citizens who are committed to promoting maximum choice for consumers in cable, video and broadband services. C4CC uses a combination of education and grassroots advocacy to impact change, which will result in a deregulated and pro-consumer market that stimulates fair price, more choices and better service options in the cable television industry.
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