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CWA Alerts Investors, Public to Comcast Failures
CWA is alerting investors and consumers that Comcast Corp. is failing to comply with a significant percentage of safety and electrical code provisions, as uncovered by technical audits in four locations.
If the deficiencies that the audits found are systemic, Comcast may have a need to make additional capital expenditures, may face liability from suits for damages or regulatory enforcement actions, and may even face a risk to its brand name and reputation that could give its satellite television competitors an edge," CWA said in a letter to investors.
In Brookline, Mass., for example, only 26 percent of the lines evaluated were found to comply with current safety codes, while in Contra Costa County, in California, a technical audit found some 75 percent of lines not in compliance with current electric codes.
CWA also raised with investors the issue of Comcast's failure to comply with Federal Communications Commission system requirements, discovered through audits. In Massachusetts, the audit found that in 57 percent of locations, Comcast failed to meet the FCC's signal level standards. In Prince Georges County, Maryland, test results showed that several of the required standards were not met.
In a complaint filed last December with the Federal Communications Commission, CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers documented 113 violations of the Public File Rule, which requires cable companies to maintain specific documents and make this file available during regular business hours.
In a disappointing decision just announced by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, Comcast will be required only to make a small payment of $225,000, in effect buying its way out of serious FCC rule violations, CWA charged. The FCC's rules call for a fine of up to $12,000 per violation, making Comcast potentially liable for more than $1.35 million. The unions are considering an appeal to the full Commission.
If the deficiencies that the audits found are systemic, Comcast may have a need to make additional capital expenditures, may face liability from suits for damages or regulatory enforcement actions, and may even face a risk to its brand name and reputation that could give its satellite television competitors an edge," CWA said in a letter to investors.
In Brookline, Mass., for example, only 26 percent of the lines evaluated were found to comply with current safety codes, while in Contra Costa County, in California, a technical audit found some 75 percent of lines not in compliance with current electric codes.
CWA also raised with investors the issue of Comcast's failure to comply with Federal Communications Commission system requirements, discovered through audits. In Massachusetts, the audit found that in 57 percent of locations, Comcast failed to meet the FCC's signal level standards. In Prince Georges County, Maryland, test results showed that several of the required standards were not met.
In a complaint filed last December with the Federal Communications Commission, CWA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers documented 113 violations of the Public File Rule, which requires cable companies to maintain specific documents and make this file available during regular business hours.
In a disappointing decision just announced by the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, Comcast will be required only to make a small payment of $225,000, in effect buying its way out of serious FCC rule violations, CWA charged. The FCC's rules call for a fine of up to $12,000 per violation, making Comcast potentially liable for more than $1.35 million. The unions are considering an appeal to the full Commission.