Cable firms to raise set-top box rates due to cable cards
Cable companies are planning to charge more for set-top boxes to help pay for new, more expensive cable card versions mandated by the Federal Communications Commission. As of July 1, cable companies were required by the FCC to start shipping the new set-top boxes with detachable cable cards.
Both cable trade groups have said consumers would see $2 to $3 more in monthly rental rates for the new boxes, but that doesnt take into account spreading the cost out to all box-renters. Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., the nations largest cable operator with 24 million video subscribers, is planning to spread out the cost of the new boxes among all cable box renters. The FCC cable card requirement amounts to an FCC tax of hundreds of millions of dollars on consumers, Comcast said in a statement.
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