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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  T  TY  202/  418-  2555  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974).  FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE  NEWS  MEDIA  CONTACT  April  4,  2002  Michelle  Russo  (202)  418-  2358 
 FCC  RELEASES  REPORT  ON  2001  CABLE  INDUSTRY  PRICES 
 Washington,  DC  –  The  Federal  Communications  Commission  (FCC)  today  released  its  annual  report  on  cable  industry  prices.  The  report  includes  information  about  monthly  charges  for 
 the  basic  service  tier  (“  BST”)  and  cable  programming  service  tier  (“  CPST,”  sometimes  referred  to  as  “expanded  basic”),  monthly  charges  for  equipment,  installation  fees,  reconnect  fees,  and  fees  for 
 tier  changes. 
 The  report  shows  that  the  overall  average  monthly  rate  for  cable  programming  services  and  equipment  increased  by  7.5%  from  $34.42  to  $36.99,  for  the  12-  month  period  ending  July  1,  2001. 
 Specifically,  the  average  monthly  charge  for  equipment  increased  by  9.1%,  from  $2.97  to  $3.24,  and  the  charge  for  BST  and  CPST  programming  services  increased  by  7.3%,  from  $31.45  to  $33.75, 
 over  the  same  period. 
 The  report  also  compares  prices  charged  by  cable  operators  facing  effective  competition  with  those  of  cable  operators  not  facing  effective  competition.  Both  groups  increased  their  average 
 monthly  rate  for  programming  and  equipment  by  7.5%  over  the  12-  month  period  ending  July  1,  2001.  As  of  that  date,  cable  operators  facing  competition  were  charging,  on  average,  $34.93  while 
 operators  not  facing  competition  were  charging  $37.13.  The  difference  in  average  monthly  rates  between  the  competitive  and  noncompetitive  groups  (the  “competitive  differential”)  remained  at 
 6.3%  for  both  2000  and  2001. 
 In  addition,  competitive  and  noncompetitive  cable  operators,  respectively,  charged  55  cents  and  60  cents  per  channel  as  of  July  1,  2001,  a  differential  in  average  monthly  rate  per  channel  of 
 9.4%.  The  average  price  per  channel  was  unchanged  for  competitive  operators  and  increased  by  1.5%  for  noncompetitive  operators  over  the  year  ending  July  1,  2001.  The  competitive  group 
 averaged  60.9  channels  and  the  noncompetitive  group  averaged  59.3  channels,  reflecting  increases  in  channel  offerings  of  5.9%  and  5.5%,  respectively,  over  the  same  period. 


 For  the  12  months  ending  July  1,  2001,  competitive  and  noncompetitive  operators  attributed,  on  average,  64.7%  and  58.2%,  respectively,  of  rate  increases  to  higher  programming  costs.  Other 
 factors  that  reportedly  led  to  price  increases  were  system  upgrades  and  general  inflation. 


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 Growth  in  capacity  and  advanced  services  continued  for  both  competitive  and  noncompetitive  cable  operators.  Approximately  two-  thirds  of  all  cable  systems  (68.7%  of 
 competitive  operators  and  63.2%  of  noncompetitive  operators)  have  achieved  a  capacity  of  750  MHz  and  above.  Over  the  year  ending  July  1,  2001,  the  percentage  of  noncompetitive  cable 
 systems  (which  represents  the  vast  majority  of  cable  systems  in  the  U.  S.)  deploying  digital  video  service  to  at  least  a  portion  of  their  subscribers  increased  from  57.8%  to  77.6%.  Similarly,  the 
 percentage  of  those  systems  deploying  Internet  access  service  rose  from  51.4%  to  70.8%.  The  percentage  offering  cable  telephony,  however,  remained  virtually  constant  at  21.1%  in  July  2001, 
 compared  with  20.7%  in  July  2000. 
 A  full  copy  of  the  report  is  available  at  www.  fcc.  gov/  mb. 


 Action  by  the  Commission,  April  1,  2001,  by  Report  (FCC  02-  107).  Chairman  Powell,  Commissioners  Abernathy,  Copps  and  Martin. 


 --  FCC  -- 
 Media  Bureau  contact:  Kiran  Duwadi  and  John  Scott  at  (202)  418-  7200.  TTY:  (202)  418-  7172 
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