Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, December 14, 1993                   TAG: 9312140285
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IN BUSINESS

WASHINGTON - Federal regulators questioned the rate policies Monday of 35 local cable TV operations, after consumers and local governments complained to the Federal Communications Commission.

The FCC sent letters of inquiry to the companies - none of them in Virginia - demanding written answers to questions about pricing policies that might violate federal regulations. The commission sent letters to 16 other cable companies Nov. 17, giving them until the end of the week to respond.

More than 5,000 complaints have been filed since Sept. 29, FCC staff told the four-member FCC at its monthly meeting. Among the practices the commission is investigating:

Violation of the government's freeze on cable revenues.

"Negative option" billing, in which the consumer is billed for additional channels unless he or she specifically requests not to have them.

Evasion of regulation through "a la carte," or per channel, pricing.

- Associated Press