Congress Urged to Revive Regulation of Cable TV Industry

WASHINGTON — Congress should consider reviving regulation of the cable TV industry, a General Accounting Office spokesman said today after unveiling a survey showing basic cable rates have risen 29% in two years since deregulation.

“I think it’s time to fully re-examine re-regulation,” John M. Olf Jr., director of housing and community development issues for the GAO, told a House subcommittee. “With no competition, no limited regulation, I believe we have a monopoly.”

But an industry spokesman said consumers are getting their money’s worth from cable TV.

“Cable subscribers are getting a lot more for their money than was the case 16 years ago or even three years ago,” James P. Mooney, president and chief executive officer of the National Cable Television Assn., told the Energy and Commerce Committee’s telecommunications and finance subcommittee.