“Americans are paying more than ever for streaming, cable, and wireless services.”

[OPENING STATEMENT VIDEO] [Q&A VIDEO] [FULL TRANSCRIPT]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As American families face an affordability crisis, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led her Democratic committee colleagues in demanding to know why Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr is failing to address the crisis at an FCC oversight hearing that also included Commissioners Olivia Trusty and Anna Gomez. Sen. Cantwell made clear that the FCC is enabling continued industry consolidation that will only lead to less competition, creating higher prices and fewer choices for consumers across a range of services.

“The question is, what is the Chairman of the FCC -- and the FCC -- doing to bring down costs for consumers?” said Sen. Cantwell. “The American people deserve an FCC that protects them from hidden fees and promotes affordability. The FCC, though, is, in my mind, doing just the opposite in allowing consolidations that reduces competition and can help drive up costs. Americans are paying more than ever for streaming, cable, and wireless services.”

This morning, Sen. Cantwell released a Snapshot Report highlighting the increasing costs to American consumers of policies being pushed and actions taken by the FCC under Brendan Carr’s leadership. Chairman Carr is taking these actions despite the fact that Congress has directed the FCC to protect consumers and promote competition.

“Streaming costs are up 13 percent this year alone,” continued Sen. Cantwell. “Basic cable costs have more than doubled in the last 10 years, and Americans are paying more than almost any other country for wireless. And what is the FCC doing to help drive down those costs? I see an FCC that is not focused enough on affordability.”

In her opening remarks, Commissioner Gomez shared her thoughts on affordability and the role the FCC could play in helping consumers, should the agency choose to do so.

“Millions of households have faced rising broadband costs following the lapse of the Affordable Connectivity Program, with little action from the Commission focused on affordability or consumer relief,” said Commissioner Gomez. “These missed opportunities reflect a troubling lack of focus on the everyday challenges consumers face in accessing and affording essential communications services. Beyond missed opportunities, this FCC has taken affirmative actions that have raised costs and reduced choice for consumers. FCC actions contributed to the loss of a potential fourth national wireless competitor, weakening competition and increasing the risk of higher prices.”

Commissioner Gomez also addressed media consolidation and how the FCC is actually contributing to the problem, instead of seeking to preserve competition and protect independent local journalism, which is critical to a functioning media ecosystem.

“These affordability concerns are especially acute in the media landscape,” stated Commissioner Gomez. “The FCC has advanced plans that would allow billion-dollar media companies to grow even larger, at the expense of local news and community-driven reporting. This push comes at a time when major media companies are already consolidating across broadcasting, streaming, and content production, raising serious questions about market power, editorial independence, and the future of community-based journalism.”

As part of her questioning, Sen. Cantwell asked Commissioner Gomez to “…explain a little more on your thoughts about what we do to increase competition and lower costs?”

“I'm a firm believer that robust competition results in benefits for consumers, including lower costs, and I am concerned that the level of consolidation in this country is actually reducing the incentives that lead to lower costs for consumers,” responded Commissioner Gomez. “And since you raised affordability, I'm so glad you raised that, because one of the things that I'm very concerned about is the lack of a program to provide affordable access to connectivity for consumers throughout this country. We are spending billions of dollars in order to deploy networks in the hardest to reach areas, but we're not going to make sure that they are sustainable if people can't afford to actually purchase that service.”

During her questioning, Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) also asked Commissioner Gomez about the FCC’s affordability policies.

“Commissioner, from your perspective, how do affordability policies under the previous Democratic-led FCC compare to the current administration's affordability policies, and how specifically it relates to consumer outcomes?” asked Sen. Blunt Rochester.

“This administration has really lost its focus on consumer issues,” replied Commissioner Gomez. “And particularly on affordability. We have not seen any action to address affordability. When we lost the Affordable Connectivity Program, millions of consumers lost their service and lost their support for their service. We are spending billions of dollars to deploy networks, but we're not going to have sustainable networks if people cannot afford to actually have subscribed to the service.

“We need seniors to have access so that they can get health care services. We need students to have access to broadband so that they can prepare themselves for this AI economy that is coming. We need people to be able to access the internet for jobs. Instead, this commission took back the ability to provide hot spots through libraries, so that people could have internet at home, and so that students could have hotspots through their schools. Same thing with Wi-Fi on school busses. We are not ensuring that people who cannot afford to be connected can get access to the internet.”

Video of Sen. Cantwell’s opening remarks is HERE and her Q&A is HERE. Video of Sen. Blunt Rochester’s Q&A is HERE. A complete transcript of Sen. Cantwell’s opening remarks and Q&A is HERE.

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