FCC plans cable regulation changes

WASHINGTON, N.J., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- The Federal Communications Commission plans to increase regulation of cable television across the United States, The New York Times reported Friday.

The rules would be imposed under the Cable Communications Act of 1984, which allowed FCC regulation once 70 percent of U.S. households have access to cable and 70 percent of those households subscribe to it.

While the Bush administration has been trying to cut back federal regulation as much as possible in other areas, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin believes cable needs regulation to increase competition, the newspaper said.

"The finding will provide the commission with additional authority to assure that there is opportunity for additional voices," Martin told the newspaper. "It is important that we continue to do all we can to make sure that consumers have more opportunities in terms of their programming and that people who have access to the platform assure there are diverse voices."

The regulations would limit the size of cable companies, preventing Comcast from getting any bigger and barring other large cable providers like Time-Warner from acquiring other large companies.