Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 7, 1993 TAG: 9307070351
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Cable consumers were originally supposed to receive reductions averaging 10 percent to 15 percent starting June 21. However, that date was pushed back to Oct. 1 by the Federal Communications Commission, the agency charged with implementing the price reductions. The FCC said last month that it didn't have enough money or staff to handle the job.
A three-month delay would mean that consumers would forgo some $250 million or more in reductions they might otherwise have realized.
Congress took care of the FCC's money complaint last week by voting to add $11.5 million to the agency's $128.5 million annual budget. The money will be used to hire 240 new employees - accountants, attorneys and clerks - to process the anticipated deluge of paperwork generated by the cable law.
In authorizing the funding, which was signed into law by President Clinton on Friday, Congress instructed the FCC to set Sept. 1 as the effective date for the rate rules.
To give the agency time to increase its staff, lawmakers said the FCC needn't actually reduce rates on that date but must begin calculating consumers' refunds from that point.
But the FCC's three commissioners said in a letter to Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, on June 30 that "it would be practically irresponsible" to begin rate regulation before Oct. 1.
The commissioners told Inouye, chairman of the Senate subcommittee charged with FCC oversight, that starting at an earlier date would be confusing to the industry and local regulators and would invite "a flood of legal challenges."
Tuesday, an FCC aide said the agency still was debating its options and would make a final decision on a starting date later this week.
"We've got to look and see what is doable," said the aide, who didn't want to be identified. "We haven't hired a single person yet. We have no extra office space, no equipment. The forms still have to be printed. A lot of steps have to be taken to implement this thing."
The FCC first has to certify municipal agencies, which would be authorized to order reductions for basic cable service. For higher levels of service, the FCC would take complaints filed by consumers before authorizing a rate rollback.
Congressional sources who have been pushing to start rate regulation this summer blasted the agency for the delay. One Democratic aide, who requested anonymity, said it was "inexcusable" to wait until Oct. 1, especially since the FCC wouldn't have any additional administrative burden if it established Sept. 1 as the date on which refunds would be calculated.
Cable prices have been frozen since April 1 for the nation's 57 million households that subscribe. About two-thirds are likely to see reductions in prices once the regulations start, with the savings totaling as much as $1.5 billion a year, according the FCC.
by CNB