Sen. Sanders: Satellite Should Not Be De Facto Cable Competition

Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has written the Federal Communications Commission arguing that satellite service should not qualify as effective competition to cable service in his home state because satellite does not provide local public access, educational and government (PEG) channels, and Vermont's mountains prevent satellite from being an option for "a significant number of households." Sen Sanders is looking to lower the basic rate of dominant provider Comcast by reversing a series of FCC effective competition determinations dating back 10 years, in which DirecTV and DISH were cited as providing sufficient competition to cable.