WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules to fulfill its congressional mandate to promote competition in the market for cable boxes and other video-navigation devices.

In the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress charged the FCC with ensuring consumers had a range of options when choosing such devices. But 20 years later, cable operators and other pay-TV providers still control this technology, with nearly all of their subscribers paying high monthly fees to rent boxes from their cable providers.

Free Press Policy Director Matt Wood made the following statement:

“Too many individuals and families subscribing to cable TV today pay hundreds of extra dollars every year to rent set-top boxes from their cable companies. Collectively, this means billions of dollars a year in revenues for cable providers — and billions of dollars lost by consumers who should have cheaper options to buy these boxes instead of renting them at exorbitant rates.

“Beyond hitting Americans hard in their wallets, the cable industry’s stranglehold on the devices we use to access video programming hurts diverse content creators. For too long the cable dial has been off limits to all but a tiny handful of independent producers. Thanks to today’s vote, programming produced by women, people of color, non-English speakers and a broader range of diverse audiences has a far better shot at being seen and heard online.

“Unlocking the cable box will give these producers greater access to TV screens and mass audiences by letting viewers seamlessly choose between pay-TV and online viewing choices on a single screen.

“Chairman Wheeler, Commissioner Clyburn and Commissioner Rosenworcel deserve a ton of credit for finally moving this item forward. The FCC has tried and failed before to truly live up to its congressional mandate: promoting affordable choices for consumers, innovation by device manufacturers, and opportunities for independent and diverse content producers.

“The cable industry has gotten too used to denying the will of Congress and frustrating the choices of cable customers. But today the FCC took a step in the right direction. It brushed aside cable’s Orwellian claim that user choice and programmer opportunity are the problem instead of the solution.”