The FCC report found that the average monthly rate for cable - including basic and expanded basic cable programming services - increased by 5.2 percent during a 12-month period ending Jan. 1, 2005, from $40.91 to $43.04. Moreover, the commission said cable prices jumped by 93 percent since the period immediately prior to congressional enactment of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.

The FCC also concluded in its report that satellite TV competition does not appear to constrain cable prices. The report said average prices were the same or slightly higher in communities where small dish services were the basis for relieving a cable operator from rate regulation when compared to non-competitive communities, the commission said.