Comcast shrugs off tougher regulation

Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, on Tuesday said he was not concerned about increased regulation from the Federal Communications Commission, which is seeking new authority to regulate cable and telecoms groups.

The FCC is seeking to impose tougher regulations on high-speed Internet providers such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon to guarantee that all content creators would be treated equally over the services. Roberts said on Tuesday that increased regulation was not yet a "big worry". "We don't believe the government is trying to turn back the clock," he said. The FCC is seeking broad new legal authority over broadband, but it has pledged to interpret its power in a limited way - although this argument has been greeted with skepticism by the industry and some US lawmakers. Roberts, speaking at a conference of television industry executives in Los Angeles, is also seeking regulatory approval to take control of NBC Universal. He expressed confidence of gaining approval within the next six to 12 months. He said making NBC News the top US news source would be one of his top goals once his company took control of NBC Universal.