Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Ruling Opens Cable Lines Internet Access Choices May Grow

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 05:29:56 -0400

Ruling Opens Cable Lines Internet Access Choices May Grow

By Christopher Stern and Jonathan Krim
Washington Post Staff Writers

Tuesday, October 7, 2003; Page A01

Cable companies would be required to open their networks to rival high-speed
Internet service providers under a federal appeals court ruling yesterday
that could lead to more choices for consumers and subject the industry to
the same competitive pressures roiling the telephone market.

The ruling by the San Francisco-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th
Circuit bars the Federal Communications Commission from following through
with plans to allow cable companies to exclude rivals from selling competing
brands of Internet service over their lines.

The FCC adopted its deregulatory approach last year, betting that it would
give the cable industry an incentive to continue investing in sophisticated
fiber-optic networks. But the court said the agency must continue to
classify cable's Internet offerings as a telecommunications service,
subjecting it to the same regulations governing high-speed Internet service
provided by telephone companies.

Currently, the vast majority of the nation's approximately 14 million homes
that subscribe to cable high-speed Internet service have no choice when it
comes to their service provider. If the ruling survives a likely appeal, the
decision could provide broadband Internet users with new options for the
content they see online, their e-mail addresses and potentially the monthly
rates they pay.

The decision could also benefit companies such as EarthLink and America
Online, which are trying to move their customer base from slower dial-up
connections to higher-speed data services. Armed with the most recent
decision, those companies could demand access to cable's broadband networks.

"Cable-modem users deserve choice in high-speed Internet providers," said
Dave Baker, vice president for public policy at EarthLink Inc., the nation's
third-largest Internet provider. "Today's ruling is a big step towards
finally affording them that choice."

The three-member appeals panel said it was obligated to block the FCC action
because it had previously ruled that the two-way nature of cable Internet
service made it more like a telecommunications service than a pay television
service that could be regulated by local governments.

At least one member of the appeals court, Judge Diarmuid F. O'Scannlain,
expressed discomfort at getting in the middle of a policy debate even as he
concurred with the panel's ruling. "Strange as this result may seem, I
concur in the court's opinion only because I believe our court's precedent
compels it," he wrote.

FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell vowed to appeal the decision. In a brief
statement, Powell quoted from the judge's comments: "Unfortunately, as noted
by Judge O'Scannlain, the ruling 'effectively stops a vitally important
policy debate in its tracks,' producing 'a strange result' which will throw
a monkey wrench into the FCC's efforts to develop a vitally important
national broadband policy."

Cable industry sources noted that Powell is not obligated to enforce
regulations even if cable is classified as a telecommunications service.
Under current law, Powell has the right to "forbear" the enforcement of
regulations in cases in which rules could cause more harm than good.

In a series of rulemaking steps over the past two years, Powell has sought
to remove all Internet-related services from the arcane world of regulations
that govern cable and telephone service. Those regulations, Powell argues,
stunt the incentive of broadband providers to expand their networks by
forcing them to share their lines with competitors.

Consumer activists, as well as smaller Internet providers, counter that if
owners of monopoly networks can control the gateways to the Internet, they
can charge more and potentially discriminate against content offered by
competitors.

The appeals court's ruling "completely changes the terrain of the debate,"
said Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America.
Cooper's group was among several public interest groups that challenged the
FCC's decision in federal court.

The decision is also a setback for the telephone companies that had asked
the FCC to treat their high-speed Internet service, which uses technology
known as digital subscriber line, or DSL, with the same deregulatory
approach as cable. A separate effort by the FCC to eliminate some of the
regulations governing high-speed Internet service over phone lines is now
effectively in limbo until the issue is resolved.

Even though cable companies are not required to open their networks to
rivals, companies have begun to do so voluntarily in a few markets. Comcast
Corp. has reached deals with six Internet service providers, including AOL
Broadband, EarthLink and United Online Inc., to offer their competing brands
of services in some markets.

Time Warner Cable, meanwhile, was required to give some rivals access to its
customers as a condition of Time Warner Inc.'s merger with America Online
Inc.

Both Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the nation's two largest cable
companies, declined to comment on the ruling, referring reporters to the
industry's trade group, the National Cable and Telecommunications
Association. A spokesman for the trade group hinted that yesterday's ruling
is likely to be appealed.

"This is one step in a long process. We need the opportunity to review the
decision," said Robert Stoddard, the group's senior vice president for
public affairs.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52839-2003Oct6.html

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/