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Regulators say Comcast's broadcast and sports fees aren't apparent in its advertised rates.

(AP photo)

Cable regulators from four Oregon communities want the state attorney general to investigate Comcast, expressing concern that the cable TV company's billing practices may violate state consumer protection laws.

Regulators in Multnomah and Washington counties, along with the cities of Milwaukie and Eugene,

about broadcast and sports fees Comcast tacks onto subscribers' bills. The fees ostensibly cover the costs of carrying local broadcast channels and expensive national sports networks.

When fees go up, as they did last fall, Comcast charges a higher rate to all TV subscribers - even those under contracts that used to protect them from rate hikes. Since 2013, contracts no longer lock in those prices.

"That's a little bait-and-switchy," said Fred Christ, administrator of the Metropolitan Area Communications Commission, which regulates cable TV service in much of Washington County.

Comcast said the rising fees reflect the cost of the programming it carries. The attorney general's office has yet to respond to the regulators' concerns.

"The cost of retransmission imposed by broadcasters continues to increase significantly as do the costs charged by regional sports programmers, and while these fees are increasing they only defray a portion of what we are being charged to be able to carry these channels," the company said in a written statement.

Once merely a conduit for TV programming, Comcast now owns NBC and produces its own original and sports programming, including local broadcasts of the Portland Trail Blazers. So Comcast is generating some of its own higher costs with its own programming.

Federal law allows local regulators very limited authority over cable TV and internet pricing, though telecom companies are still generally subject to state consumer protection laws. So after reading in The Oregonian/OregonLive that the state Department of Justice is reviewing complaints against CenturyLink, the regulators asked the attorney general to look at Comcast, too.

Price data compiled by local regulators show that Comcast's monthly broadcast and sports fees (which regulators sometimes describe internally as "B-S fees") totaled $1.50 in 2014. They are now $11 a month, but the regulators say they're not included in Comcast's advertised rates.

"We would like to discuss whether you or your staff might see any paths forward under the Oregon Unlawful Trade Practices Act or other regulations," the cable regulators wrote in their March letter to the attorney general's office.

It's not just Comcast. Frontier Communications, which offers cable TV service in Washington County and east Multnomah County, notified regulators last week that it is raising its own sports fee by $1 in May, to $6 a month.

Billing concerns are among consumers' top complaints about cable TV service, according to regulatory data.

"As a cable regulatory commission we are restricted on our authority and we are seeking some guidance on this," said Ann Goldenberg of the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, which regulates cable TV service in the city and much of Multnomah County. "We would like to be able to help our subscribers but we don't have that authority."

-- Mike Rogoway; twitter: @rogoway; 503-294-7699