Comcast claims right to set cable rates in Boston

There's never been much love between Philadelphia and Boston and now a Philadelphia-based corporation, Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), is leveling its guns at Boston's mayor in a fight over who has the right to set cable rates in Beantown.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino thinks the city should be able to regulate the cost of cable and has petitioned the FCC to do so. Comcast, in response, filed a 21-page document that said there's competition in the city and it's not Comcast's fault if the competitors haven't built out their networks quickly enough.

"The city's petition places undue reliance on the fact that RCN has not yet built out cable facilities to the entire city, claiming that RCN has only built out a fraction of the city," Comcast's document said. This doesn't matter, the MSO added, because the FCC's competition guidelines do not require a cable company to "build out its network to any specific coverage area or serve a particular percentage of households."

Menino argues that Comcast charges $15.80 per month for basic cable in non-regulated Boston and "substantially less" for communities outside the city where regulations are still in effect. A Comcast spokeswoman declined to comment on those claims.

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