Cox To Settle Rate Dispute With Fcc

Cox Communications Inc., one of the nation’s largest cable companies, would pay $7.1 million plus interest to 1 million customers as part of a proposed rate dispute settlement, federal regulators said Friday.

The proposed settlement, which would resolve 400 pending rate complaints against Cox, is subject to final approval by the Federal Communications Commission. It does not represent an admission by Cox of violating any FCC rate regulations.

If it is approved, Cox would have to return either through refunds or credits roughly $9 per affected customer - the largest per-subscriber amount yet, said FCC spokesman Morgan Broman.

Most Cox subscribers would get refunds, Broman said.

Those subscribers are located in California, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Illinois, Washington, Connecticut and Nebraska.

In addition, the settlement calls for Cox to eliminate all charges to customers to have additional sets hooked up to cable. Broman said this would cost the company $1.2 million. The charges would be removed for customers of both regulated and non-regulated cable systems.