Jonathan Adelstein, the newest member of the Federal Communications Commission, pays his local cable company $160 per month for a suite of services, including digital cable and high-speed cable-modem service.
"My cable bill is 160 bucks a month. That's because I have a lot of boxes, digital cable and cable modem, which I think is a package deal," said Adelstein, meeting with reporters for the first time since gaining Senate confirmation Nov. 14.
While cable has been known for customer-service lapses, Adelstein said he's pleased with his cable company. "I am pretty happy with it. I love the broadband. The digital TV is just wonderful," he said.
Adelstein lives with his family in Arlington, Va., a community served by Comcast Corp.
In recent weeks, news reports of rising cable rates have proliferated in major media outlets. But Adelstein, a Democrat, did not respond to a question about cable rates by bashing the industry.
"People are concerned about price, but you've also got a lot of new technology being deployed, so you need to look at both sides of the equation," he said.
Adelstein, a 40-year-old South Dakota native, is a Democrat who spent the last seven years as a policy adviser to Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
