FCC's Martin fines nine carriers on his way out the door
On the eve of his resignation, now-former FCC chairman Kevin Martin got in one last shot against nine of the biggest cable companies -- including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox and Charter -- to the tune of $25,000 each. Citing the MSOs (Multiple System Operators) for failing to respond to the FCC's investigation of how they moved channels from analog to digital tiers, additional fines were then added on, bringing the total damages to all nine companies to a cool $510,000. Top honors go to Time Warner, which racked up a $137,000 bill. Wielding his poisoned pen, Martin wrote that the actions of the MSOs "... exhibits contempt for the FCC's authority," and by forcing customers to pay for digital set-top boxes, "... customers have been receiving less from the cable companies but paying the same price." Strong words, but would we wouldn't expect anything less from the FCC chairman who oversaw some of the biggest changes in telco this country's seen.
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