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WASHINGTON, DC 20510
July 9, 2015
The Honorable Tom Wheeler
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Chairman Wheeler:
Many Americans have very few, if any, options when it comes to choosing their local cable and
Internet providers. And, as the telecommunications industry becomes increasingly concentrated,
this lack of choice has resulted in huge price increases and often poor service for consumers. We
are writing to respectfully request the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) assistance
in empowering Americans with more information about ever-increasing rates for cable and
Internet services and how providers calculate consumers' monthly bills. This request has added
. urgency in the context of the proposed merger between Charter Communications and Time
Warner Cable (TWC), which will only increase concentration in the cable and broadband
markets.
In addition to steeply rising prices, consumers are often unaware of the various fees that are
tacked onto their monthly bills because of the lack of transparency in pricing. To cite just one
example, Time Warner Cable began charging a cable modem rental fee in 2012 of$3.95 a
month. TWC then raised the price to $5.99 a month in 2013. Today it charges $8 a month, a 203
percent increase in three years' time, in addition to monthly broadband charges.
With increasing concentration in the industry, there are now de facto telecommunications
monopolies throughout the United States. For example, just 37 percent of Americans have more
than one option for high-speed broadband providers. Given the lack of incentive for companies
to provide better quality service and competitive prices, it is no surprise that individuals rank
cable and Internet providers last in customer satisfaction when compared to other companies in
other industries.
The FCC has the mandate to collect pricing information and the duty to promote the deployment
of broadband, and has taken a number of recent positive steps towards achieving these
objectives. According to 47 USC §1303(c)(1)(B), the FCC "shall conduct and make public
periodic surveys of consumers in urban, suburban, and rural areas in the large business, small
business, and residential consumer markets to determine [ ... ] (B) the amounts consumers pay
per month for such capability." The Commission's collection of pricing information is critical to
upholding its mission to protect consumers, and promote competition, and deploy broadband
across America.
We need healthy competition to foster innovation and ensure fair prices for consumers ..A,t t!;~
very least, Americans should be able to understand the price of the product they are buying aL~
what their neighbors are paying for the same service.
In order to better serve consumers, we are requesting the Commission continue to fulfill its
mandate and answer the following specific questions on the price of broadband and cable
services;'
1) How much do Americans pay for broadband and cable services, on average by state?
2) How much do Americans pay for broadband and cable services, on average by
telecommunications provider?
3) How much do Americans living in urban areas pay for broadband and cable services, on
average?
4) How much do Americans living in rural areas pay for broadband and cable services, on
average?
As always, thank you for your consideration of our request. We look forward to working with the
Commission to increase transparency for consumers.
Sincerely,
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Bernard Sanders
United States Senator
Al Franken
United States Senator
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United States Senator
lizabeth Warren
nited States Senator
I Pricing information should include associated fees, such as usage caps and modem rental fees, in order to truly see
the effects of these prices on consumers. In addition, when defining broadband, the FCC should consider not the
company's advertised speed of broadband as specified in the Commission's 2013 collection order, but the actual
speed delivered. For broadband, please break out answers by download speed tiers, the tiers being 4 megabits per
second, 10 megabits per second, 25 megabits per second, 100 megabits per second, and 1 gigabits per second.