Comcast: More Regulation Could Equal Less Investment

Comcast chief financial officer Michael Angelakis warned regulators at an industry conference Wednesday that any attempt by the government to impose heavy restrictions on the cable broadband business could force companies to turn off the infrastructure investment spigot.

Angelakis speaking at the Barclay's Capital 2010 Global Communications, Media and Technology conference in New York, said that Comcast was disappointed that Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski has opted to reclassify broadband as a Title II telecommunications service, which could open the business to more onerous restrictions. Genachowski has vowed to apply a light hand to broadband regulation, and Angelakis said the industry will have to take the chairman at his word. But he said if the regulatory environment becomes "distressed," that could force cable operators, Comcast included, to curtail investment.