PHILADELPHIA — The Federal Communications Commission has opened an investigation into the pricing policies of major cable operators and Verizon Communications

The agency wants to ensure the companies' customers are getting treated fairly, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The FCC wrote on Oct. 30 to cable operators including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems, Bright House Networks, Suddenlink Communications, Bend Cable Communications, GCI Company, Harron Entertainment and RCN Corp.

Verizon, which offers pay-TV services with FiOS, also was included in the probe.

The agency's letter questioned the companies' practice of moving analog channels into digital tiers to free up bandwidth for other uses, such as high-definition channels. Analog customers will have to get a digital set-top box from the operator or buy the digital TV tier to watch those channels.

Most cable customers are analog customers, and those who do not wish to upgrade to digital cannot watch the channels that are moved to the digital tier.

WASHINGTON — Factory orders dropped by more than three times as much as analysts expected in September as the U.S. manufacturing sector continues to suffer from the economic downturn.The Commerce Department said Tuesday that factory orders fell by 2.5 percent from August, far more than the 0.8 percent drop expected by Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. That's on top of a revised 4.3 percent decline in August, the steepest in almost two years.Excluding autos and aircraft, orders fell 3.7 percent, the steepest drop since 1992.Orders for nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft, considered a good indication of business investment plans, fell by 1.5 percent. That follows a 2.3 percent drop in August and indicates companies are cutting back on investments.