$10 (or less) Monthly Cable Bill A Possibility
Here’s an interesting twist to the claim from cable companies that since broadcasters provide their signals over the air for free, the cable companies shouldn’t have to pay for them.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) is about to introduce legislation requiring cable, satellite, and other paid TV companies to provide local TV signals by offering a “lifeline service”, similar to that offered by telephone companies. The basic service would be at a reduced cost and provided indefinitely to people who lose over-the-air TV service as a result of the digital transition next February. Sanders sought support for the bill in a letter last week that was circulated to other senators.
The Vermont Independent isn’t pushing the carriers to charge nothing to the customers, but he is pushing for a nominal amount. The bill calls for pricing at $10 a month or less, similar to Comcast’s recently announced DTV transition promotion that expires after one year. “We may go lower,” a Sanders aide said.
By having the bill require a cheap basic package “indefinitely,” Sanders would mean “until the end of time, a long period of time,” his aide said. “There’s no point in going and doing the legislation if we’re just going to match what Comcast is already doing,” the aide said.
“Regardless of one’s ability to pay, it is unfair to ask consumers who lose their TV reception to pay for what they previously received for free,” Sanders said. “Because the federal government was responsible for mandating this DTV transition, I believe it is the federal government’s duty, along with a wide-range of industry partners, to ensure that our constituents are held harmless.”
The Sanders aide said the bill would establish the criteria for determining who had lost free TV signals and is thus eligible to buy a lifeline service that consisted solely of local TV signals. Money remaining from the federal government’s $1.5 billion converter box coupon program might be used to cover a portion of equipment installation costs, the aide added.
A spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association declined to comment. No kidding.





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