WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission may consider a long-dormant proposal that would cap the number of customers a single cable-television company may serve, agency officials said Thursday.
Chairman Kevin Martin is circulating the proposal among his fellow commissioners for a possible vote at the agency’s next meeting, scheduled for Dec. 18.
Fearing the potential monopoly power of cable television companies, Congress in 1992 directed the FCC to establish limits on how many customers able-television companies could reach nationwide.
The FCC settled on a 30 percent cap, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the rule in 2001, saying the agency had failed to adequately justify its reasoning.
Martin is proposing to again set the customer cap at 30 percent, said three FCC sources who declined to be named because the proposal has not been made public. The immediate impact of such a cap would appear to be negligible.
