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The cost of basic cable television service is up 29% since deregulation in 1986, but an industry spokesman says consumers are getting their money’s worth. “Cable subscribers are getting a lot more for their money than was the case 16 years ago, or even three years ago,” James P. Mooney, president and chief executive officer of the National Cable Television Assn., said in testimony presented Thursday to a House subcommittee. The monthly cost for the least expensive basic cable service increased 29% between December, 1986, when the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984 took effect, and October, 1988, according to a General Accounting Office study. The results were presented to the Energy and Commerce Committee’s telecommunications and finance subcommittee. The monthly fee for the basic service increased from $11.23 to $14.48 during the study period. Under deregulation, the Federal Communications Commission allowed cable television companies, which since 1972 had to receive permission from local authorities to raise prices for basic service, to set their own rates. Despite the higher prices, the GAO study said that cable subscriptions have risen 15%, and 55% of households with televisions, or 49 million subscribers, now have cable.