Washington, D.C. — Consumers are being charged way to much on their cable bills and the Computer & Communications Industry Association wants to help the public understand why and what to do about it.
CCIA, working with content creators, public interest groups, and competitive device manufacturers, announced the launch of a new website Monday for the Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVCC): consumervideochoice.org
Almost all consumers pay an outrageous amount each year ($232 on average) to lease set-top boxes from their cable provider in order to access pay-TV content. The resulting $19.5 billion annually goes to the cable industry unchallenged because competitive choices have been blocked, with the result that consumers pay too much.
In response to a Congressional mandate, the FCC convened a working group of industry experts earlier this year to develop ways to “promote the competitive availability of navigation devices.” But follow through is now needed. CCIA hopes greater awareness provided by the website of what is at stake will help guide the FCC and policy makers to promote meaningful competition.
The following can be attributed to the President and CEO of CCIA, Ed Black:
“CCIA urges the FCC to stand with consumers and continue the work Congress mandated by starting a rulemaking to promote competition for retail set-top boxes. Consumers pay way too much to lease set-top boxes from their pay-TV provider. For consumers, competition in the retail set-top box marketplace would lower costs, give them more options for buying their own devices, and encourage them to discover content from independent programmers.
Competitive parts of the tech industry consistently provide greater value for lesser cost. Competition in set-top boxes would do the same. Any additional concerns could be addressed in a rulemaking proceeding where the public can freely comment ahead of any FCC action.”
Contact:
Heather Greenfield 202-783-0070 ext 113
Ed Black 202-783-0070 ext 110