Hm, Comcast isn’t going to like this…

The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to impose significant new regulations to open the cable television market to independent programmers and rival video services after determining that cable companies have become too dominant in the industry, senior commission officials said. …

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The commission’s conclusion that the cable industry has grown too large will be used to justify a raft of new cable television rules and proposals. They include a cap that would prevent the nation’s largest cable company, Comcast Corporation, from growing, and would prevent other large cable companies, like Time Warner, from making any new large cable acquisitions.

Notes Chris over at AmericaBlog:

There is absolutely no reason why TV should be as costly as it is in the US. Comcast has been effective with their political lobbying and the result to consumers has been bloated and increasingly expensive cable bills. How many people in the US have monthly cable bills that are under $45 and include cable TV, phone service, and high-speech Internet? In Europe, it’s common.

As I have mentioned quite a few times, when France can offer numerous options for phone/internet/TV that are lower than the US, there’s something seriously wrong in the US. Even with the strong euro, the deals over here are still attractive at 30 euro or roughly $44 dollar per month. The offers are all about the same with high speed internet, phone calls around the world and a block of standard TV channels plus VOD and pay channels,