RATE REGULATION - CABLE TV IS READY FOR ADR

The Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act 1992 was designed by Congress to reduce the ''administrative burden'' on all parties associated with the cable industry, including consumers, owners and the FCC. One way to accomplish this, says the author, would be to substitute arbitration or other forms of ADR for local administrative rate-setting mechanisms that often result in protracted and bitter disputes. The advantages of ADR-speedy, efficient resolution by a neutral party-would eliminate nearly all of the ''political posturing'' from what is ''usually a highly charged, media-involved process.''