04-6-01
FCC Approves AOL-TW Merger with Open Access Conditions
The FCC has approved the merger between America Online and Time Warner
based on a set of conditions concerning its Internet service, instant messaging
service, and corporate relationships.
In regards to AOL-TW's Internet services, the company is not permitted to
restrict the ability of customers to choose a rival ISP over its own service. The
company must allow customers to obtain a list of participating ISPs by calling
their local AOL-TW cable system. Last, the provider cannot dictate the content
of the first Internet screen a customer of a rival ISP sees and these unaffiliated
ISPs must be able to directly bill customers.
AOL-TW cannot get exclusive access to AT&T's cable systems to offer high speed
Internet access. The new company cannot enter into any agreement with AT&T
that affects AT&T's ability to set rates and conditions for ISPs unaffiliated with
AOL-TW
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
AOL
http://www.aol.com
Time Warner
http://www.timewarner.com
11-22-00
US District Judge Rules Against Open Access in Broward Co
On November 10, U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of Florida Donald
M. Middlebrooks ruled that the local regulation requiring open access was in
violation of the First Amendment. Excerpts from the decision are accessible at
the Hands Off the Internet web site.
Hands Off the Internet
http://www.handsoff.org
10-26-00
RMI.NET reported that it has signed a cable open access agreement with
Time Warner, in which it will trial offering broadband Internet access
services over Time Warner's system in Columbus (OH) and the AT&T
venture in Boulder (CO).
RMI.NET
http://www.rmi.net
Time Warner
http://www.timewarner.com
09-13-00
In a filing to the FCC last week, AOL/TW said that its pledge to provide open
access to ISPs would not include access for unafilliated ISPs, and not include
access for delivery of IP telephony services or interactive services to a set-top.
Currently, AOL/TW is conducting an open access trial in Columbus, Ohio. The
participants include AOL, CompuServe Classic, Juno and RoadRunner.
Time Warner
http://www.timewarner.com
08-04-00
The Arlington County Board voted to transfer the county's cable franchise from
Prime Communications to Comcast. Open access was not a requirement for the
transfer, but Comcast did commit to a wide range of service improvements.
07-21-00
Time Warner/AOL has introduced an open access trial in Columbus, Ohio. RoadRunner, AOL,
and a group of undisclosed ISPs are participating. A trial in Florida is expected to follow.
Time Warner
http://www.timewarner.com
07-06-00
FCC Chairman William Kennard has said that his agency will determine if a
data service offered by a cable company should be considered a
"telecommunications" service and therefore subject to new regulations. The
issue was spawned by last week's decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,
which found that local governments could not impose open access regulations
on cable companies because only the FCC had authority over
"telecommunications" services.
Kennard continues to play both sides of the fence. This week, he is strongly
advocating open access, but at the same time, he is also conceding that added
regulations may not be necessary even if data over cable is considered
telecommunications.
Proceedings to explore the issue are expected to begin this fall.
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
06-26-00
Last Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a decision by
District Judge Owen Panner allowing the city of Portland and county of
Multnomah, Oregon to impose open access regulations on AT&T. The appellate
court found that Internet access was not a "cable service" but a
"telecommunications service", "not one way and general, but interactive and
individual." Therefore, the court said that only the FCC could impose
regulations on the service.
Parties on both sides of the open access debate praised the ruling. Open access
advocates hope to leverage the finding that Internet access is considered a
telecommunications service in efforts to push the FCC into treating cable
providers as common carriers. However, the FCC is not expected to regulate
Internet over cable services since the major MSOs have already volunteered to
provide open access in 2002.
AT&T
http://www.att.com
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
06-15-00
The L.A. City Information Technology and General Services Committee has
voted to establish regulations that would impose open access on local cable
operators. The body will create and submit a proposal to the full council. The
California legislature has already rejected other open access proposals.
Officials in Henrico County, Virginia plan to appeal a U.S. District Court
decision that disallowed the local legislatures from imposing open access
regulations on MediaOne. The issue will be taken to the Fourth Circuit Court of
Appeals.
In a separate story....
AT&T has announced that it will conduct a 6-month open access trial, dubbed
AT&T Broadband Choice, in Boulder, beginning in November. The trial, which
will involve 500 data consumers, will include participation by America Online,
EarthLink, Juno, RMI.Net, @Home, MindSpring, MSN, WorldNet, Yahoo!, and
others.
05-19-00
Federal Court Judge Richard Williams released an opinion against open access
stipulation for Henrico County, Virginia. Williams stated "there is (no) provision
in federal law that specifically authorizes a locality to compel a cable company
to make its facilities available to all ISPs.
04-10-00
At Comdex Asia, the Minister for Communications and Information Technology in
Singapore confirmed that Singapore Telecommunications and Singapore Cablevision
would open access so that other ISPs could offer services over the networks.
04-03-00
The Communications and Information Technology Minister in Singapore has said
that he is considering an open access regulation for SingTel and Singapore
Cablevision.
In response to AT&T's claim to more control over @Home and the introduction of
new affiliate terms that allow AT&T, Comcast, and Cox to escape exclusivity
requirements in June 2001, the OpenNet Coalition has released a statement that
begs for the operators to open their systems next year rather than wait until
2002.
Tom Ammiano, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, held a
press conference last week calling for new access regulations.
03-29-00
Comcast, the 3rd largest MSO in the U.S., has announced that it will open access to its
cable networks to ISPs once its agreements with @Home expire, which is expected in
2002. Comcast has not outlined how open access would be implemented.
GTE Regulatory Relations Director Edwin Shimizu spoke before the Illinois House
Computer Technology Committee last week in support of State Rep Jeff Schoenberg's
open access bill, HB4152 – "Internet Access Enhancement Act."
Mark Roellig, executive VP for Law, Human Resources, and Public Policy for U.S. West
spoke to a "legal forum" in Los Angeles about the benefits of open access.
3-21-00
The Portland and Multnomah County, along with the Mt Hood Cable Regulatory
Commission met last week with four access providers interested in offering
high-speed
data services with open access to competing ISPs. The participating
providers included
RCN, WideOpenWest, Open Access Broadband Networks, and Western Integrated
Networks.
03-02-00
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission voted to discontinue its investigation over whether or
not impose an open access stipulation on cable operators in its state.
The FCC denied a petition by Internet Ventures that attempted to convince the FCC that high-
speed data access is "video programming." While the FCC could have referred Internet Ventures
to any dictionary, the gang instead provided IV with the following definition of video
programming: "programming provided by or generally considered comparable to programming
provided by a television broadcast station."
As expected, AOL Time Warner pledged to provide open access. It stated that it would attempt to
negotiate a deal with ServiceCo to allow multiple ISPs to use its systems before its agreement
expires.
02-21-00
Last week, Pennsylvania and Idaho defeated efforts to impose open access regulations on
cable operators.
In Florida, a U.S. District judge threw out 6 of the 7 counts raised in a lawsuit filed by
Comcast, Cablevision, and Advocate Communications that claims legislators in Broward
County did not have the authority to impose open access regulations. The judge did not
dismiss the argument that the regulation violates cable companies' First Amendment
rights to free speech by limiting availability of their facilities and forcing them to
participate in others' speech.
Broward County has until the end of the month to respond to the remaining count.
Four open access advocate groups including the Consumer Federation of America,
Consumers Union, Michigan Citizen Action and the Massachusetts Consumers' Coalition
have signed a letter to Representatives in Massachusetts and Michigan urging them to
call for congressional hearings over the open access issue.
The letter
http://www.consumerfed.org/internetaccess/dingell-markey_160200.pdf
02-11-00
Open access bills were introduced this year to state legislators in Illinois, Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, Vermont, Idaho, Kansas, Utah and New Hampshire. So far, the
bills have been defeated in New Hampshire, Utah, and Virginia.
02-02-00
Jefferson County, Colorado has approved a 15 year franchise for WideOpenWest to build and operate a cable system
that will provide open access. Mapping and design is underway. Services are expected to be launched by the end of this
year.
The open access gang was active last week. Greg Simon, co-director of the OpenNet Coalition spoke before the
Pennsylvania House Committee on Consumer Affairs as well as the Montgomery County (MD) Council. The
Pennsylvania House is considering an open access bill presented by Rep. Ron Raymond. In Maryland, legislators are
considering open access as a stipulation to the transfer of a franchise between Prime Cable and Comcast.
Chris Oliver, Chairman and CEO of Vitts Networks, gave his pitch in support of open access to legislators in New
Hampshire.
Also last week, the San Francisco Telecommunications Commission voted to delay an open access requirement on
AT&T until 2003. The decision will now go to the city's Board of Supervisors for final approval. A meeting date has not
yet been scheduled.
01-25-00
AT&T and MediaOne have filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, challenging an
Henrico County ordinance requiring open access.
The San Francisco Department of Telecommunications and Information Systems [DTIS] has
outlined a plan that includes support for open access.
01-14-00
The announced merger intentions of Time Warner and AOL will inevitably result in open or leased
access provisions for Time Warner’s systems. With AT&T committing to a leased access
opportunity in 2002, the majority of cable plant in the U.S. is already scheduled to open up its
system to traditional ISPs. Those two victories should be cause for celebration among the ISP
community. However, instead, open advocacy groups are screaming foul. They have expressed
concern that the open access cause will lose steam now that AOL is one of the other guys. In
fact, some groups have already called for the FCC to prohibit the merger if AOL does not agree to
open its systems up quickly.
Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America has been active in pushing open access.
An op-ed piece he did for the LA Times and a list of press releases his group has issued recently
is accessible at http://www.consumerfed.org/internetaccess/
12-18-00
William Kennard offered up a melodramatic speech at the Western Show, in which he warned cable
operators that consumers may react to a lack of open access by orchestrating a demonstration similar to the
“Boston Tea Party.” His obvious agenda is open access without regulation – not exactly in line with
previous verbiage from Billy K.
Culver City, California and Henrico County, Virginia became the 10th and 11th localities to require open
access as a stipulation for a franchise transfer.
The state of Minnesota became the sixth state to approve transfers without the stipulation. However, the
state public utilities commission plans to open a docket to determine whether it can impose requirements on
AT&T in the future. An administrative law judge is expected to rule on the issue by June 1.
To date, 88 of 89 local franchise authorities in Minnesota have approved transfers without open access.
The Consumer Federation of America is now keeping a running archive of open access news.
Comcast responded to the GTE lawsuit over open access by claiming the telco is “attempting to use our
nation’s antitrust laws to reduce and damage competition – that is, to achieve results diametrically opposed
to the basic goals of the antitrust laws.”
Consumer Federation of America
http://www.consumerfed.org
Open Access Resources from Cable Modem University
http://2/modem/openaccess
12-02-99
The Richmond City Council voted unanimously to approve the transfer of MediaOne’s cable license to
AT&T in Richmond, Virginia. The council reserved its right to reverse its decision after the FCC makes a
federal ruling on the open access issue.
The Town of Weymouth, Massachusetts has reversed its decision to require open access to approve the
transfer of the town’s cable system from MediaOne to AT&T.
The Town of North Andover, Massachusetts has passed an open access ordinance. AT&T will appeal.
The Fresno City Council, and the City of Dearborn, Michigan have separately approved a transfer to AT&T
without an open access stipulation.
To-date, more than 1,300 local communities have approved transfers recently without an open access
requirement.
Susman Godfrey LLP, one of the top law firms in the U.S., has filed a class action lawsuit against Arahova
Communications (Century), Cox, Comcast, Cablevision Systems, Garden State Cable Vision, Jones
Intercable, TCI, AT&T, Time Warner, @Home and ServiceCo (Road Runner) and MediaOne to seek
injunction relief and damages for depriving cable modem subscribers from the right to choose their own
ISP. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, Western Division of Los
Angeles. Susman Godfrey claims that the aforementioned companies have broken the nation’s antitrust
law, a similar approach taken by GTE in a separate lawsuit.
The initial plaintiffs included Fred and Roberta Lipschultz, Arthur Simon, and John Galley III. Of the
Washington residents, three are Road Runner subs and one is an @Home sub.
You can join the class action suit by sending an email to cablemodemclass@aol.com.
AT&T has introduced a petition in St. Louis to have the open access requirement overturned. Under the
city’s charter, AT&T has 30 days to gather 4,102 signatures, representing 2% of the registered voters in the
last mayoral election. Once certified, it would have another 30 days to collect signatures representing
another 5%, or a total of 14,357. If AT&T is successful, the Board of Alderman would the forced to
reconsider the open access ordinance. If the board affirms its decision, then the issue would be put on the
ballot.
Lawrence Lessig, a Harvard law professor, and Mark Lemley, a University of Texas law professor, have
filed a 39-page document to the FCC in support of open access.
Internet Ventures has sent a letter to the FCC with new arguments for open access. The company is now
claiming that DSL does not represent a choice to ISPs because ILECs are participating in “anticompetitive
behavior”. According to the letter, the bells are responsible for a “pattern of abuse across the country.”
More than 120 companies have signed a letter to the FCC requesting the body to intervene in the Portland
case to reverse the open access ordinance.
@Home contends that the movement against open access is supported by the Telecommunications Industry
Association (TIA), the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), and the Digital Coast Roundtable.
In the twisted pair world, The FCC has voted to force ILECs to share telco lines with ISPs. ILECs must
offer unbundled access to the high-frequency portions of their loops to any carriers that want to deploy
DSL. They will not be required to unbundle the voiceband portions of their loops. Carriers may not
request access to only the high-frequency portions of their loop if the ILEC is not using the loop to provide
analog voice service.
GecKo has put together an open access resource page. Access it at http://2/modem/openaccess
11-07-99
Arguments got underway last week in AT&T’s appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland over a
requirement issued by a lower court that would provide multiple data providers with access to AT&T’s
cable network in Portland. AT&T lawyers unveiled a new approach to their fight, in which they claim that
the City of Portland has required the operator to build a telecommunications system and not a “cable
network.” If the courts buys into this argument, then the 9th Circuit will most likely rule that only the FCC
has the authority to rule on open access provisions.
The initial line of questioning including commentary by the 3-judge panel was encouraging for AT&T.
Judge Edward Leavy said that he thought “that everybody (was) trying to dance around the issue of
whether we’re talking about a telecommunications service.” Both Leavy and Judge Sidney Thomas
questioned why they should accept the conclusion that high-speed data is a cable service.
David Kendall, a lawyer for President Clinton, will be representing AOL. In an interview, he stated that he
didn’t expect a decision by the appeal’s court until February. He added that the case then could go to the
Supreme Court.
In Seattle/metro King County, AT&T chalked up a victory upon the decision of a special 4-member review
board to postpone any regulation requirements until next year at the earliest. The board recommended that
King County monitor the market carefully and regulate cable modem services only if anti-competitive
market conditions develop. If the market was determined to be anit-competitive next year, an open access
initiative was proposed to take effect September 1, 2000
In Denver, voters approved an extension of AT&T’s franchise for the next 10 years without an open access
requirement. Boardwatch Magazine launched a late campaign for open access, in which it issued a letter to
the Mayor of Denver and the City Council. The Association of Online Professionals also joined the last
minute effort.
In Plymouth, Michigan, the local Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the transfer of
MediaOne to AT&T.
As expected, officials in St. Louis Board of Alderman voted (20-7) to require open access as a stipulation
of AT&T’s franchise renewal. St. Louis is the largest market to pass an open access requirement on
AT&T.
The Massachusetts Coalition of Consumer Choice and Competition on the Internet (MCCCCI) struck out at
AT&T and MediaOne last week for introducing ads to persuade voters not to sign a petition that would put
the open access issue on a November 2000 ballot. MCCCCI, a newly formed open access advocacy group,
calls AT&T’s right to deny AOL and other data providers access to its network a “loophole in the law.”
The group’s lead man, Stephen Allen, stated, “the fact is that cable lines are built on public rights of way,
and the money to build them is paid by consumers.” MCCCCI’s press announcement did not comment on
Allen’s educational background in economics.
The MCCCI recognized a string of other organizations supporting open access (some which may have
never been mentioned here) including the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Action, Utility
Consumer Action Network, Consumers Union, and the OpenNet Coalition.
The Heartland Institute released a report last month opposing open access. Its study is available at
http://www.heartland.org/studies/kopel-sum.htm
10-26-99
Open access advocates made significant progress in conning support from state legislators in
Pennsylvania, and local authorities in St. Louis, Missouri and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In Harrisburg last Friday, the House Consumer Affairs Committee heard arguments at the State Capital
building over House Bill 1516, which would require open access on all cable operators in Pennsylvania.
Heavy lobbying is expected. AOL has already hired Holsten & Associates, a brand name Harrisburg firm
that represents Miller Brewing, American Express and SmithKline Beecham.
In St. Louis, the Board of Alderman will meet this Friday to discuss open access as a requirement to
renew TCI/AT&T’s franchise. The outlook is bleak, considering the city’s mayor, Clarence Harmon, has
endorsed an open access ordinance. Open access advocates are using a new approach, in which they are
basing their authority to make such a requirement on a provision in the 1934 Communications Act that
allows cities to deny franchise renewals if the provider fails to meet the community’s presumed
telecommunications needs.
AT&T has claimed that SBC authored the ordinance and that the mayor’s endorsement of open access
was tied to his campaign to run for another term as city mayor. Slay struck back stating that AT&T was
making these accusations “because this doesn’t fit with their business plan, and they’re mounting an
aggressive campaign to stop it. Well, they can sue the city, and I expect they will. But the broadband
market is exploding right now, and it’s important the we push the envelope in terms of what we can
demand for our citizens.”
Unconfirmed reports indicate the ordinance was unusually loaded with items that would be unfavorable to
AT&T. For instance, the bill was said to have designated net access as a telecom service, which means
that service would be subject to a fee of 10% of gross revenue. In addition, the ordinance was flagged as
an emergency measure, which means that it would go into effect immediately.
At a public meeting last week in Cambridge, Massachusetts, MediaOne and AT&T tried to combat the
telco effort by making a series of commitments to the town including guarantees that the MSO would (1)
make all Internet content available to its customers and allow access to other providers and ISPs, (2) give
customers the option to bypass proprietary content offered via the cable modem service (3) allow
customers to use a start-up page of their choice, (4) support all generally accepted Internet protocols, and
(4) deploy enabling technology citywide.
Not good enough for city manager, Robert Healy - He is spearheading the open access effort and has
given AT&T until this Wednesday to respond to an ordinance that would require open access in
Cambridge. The city has until November 11 to act on MediaOne’s request to transfer its franchise to
AT&T.
US West has backed down from its campaign in Denver to sway voters to require AT&T to provide open
access in the city. Reportedly, the telco walked away from the effort after discovering that other local
open access advocates were not financially contributing to the cause. US West claimed that it had put in
about $53,000 towards the fight. AT&T has kept its course. The MSO has spent in excess of $200,000 to
date and will continue to run TV, radio and newspaper ads ‘til the issue is voted upon next month.
In Pittsburgh, a subsidiary of GTE has filed an antitrust suit against AT&T, Comcast, and @Home,
claiming that the companies are illegally bundling content and high-speed Internet access. The telco is
seeking an injunction relief and damages.
Comcast responded by saying that “No one should be surprised that GTE, which has sued the FCC at
every turn to stop local phone competition, should try similar tactics to slow down facilities-based Internet
competition.”
David Olson, the open access advocate that led Portland in its battle against AT&T, has described the
recent FCC report that found no necessity for an open access regulation, as “intellectually bankrupt.” He
claims that the FCC overlooked documentation submitted by Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs that
suggested cable operators would make more money as a result of an open access regulation.”
10-22-99
The Miami-Dade County Commission voted 10-2 to turn down a proposal that would require area cable
operators to provide open access. County Mayor Alex Penelas asked the commission to let the open
access issue be decided by the FCC.
OpenNet responded to the ruling by calling it “unfortunate” yet not surprising. Greg Simon, Co-Director of
the group suggested that the county commission’s decision was based on threats of lawsuits and denial of
services.
The Association for Competitive Technology [ACT] issued a public statement in support of the FCC’s
ruling earlier this month not to force open access at this time.
@Home has announced that the Association of County Executives has passed a resolution denouncing
open access regulations. The company also reported on the discovery of a white paper written by a
Harvard Law School professor that does not support open access.
10-13-99
Last week, a series of reports emerged indicating that AT&T has already presented a plan to the FCC
that describes an open access model and that the MSO may be caving on the issue in order to win favor
with the FCC while the commission rules on ownership caps. The MSO has acknowledged that it has an
exclusive agreement with @Home through 2002, and there is some speculation that it is working with
AOL on a way to get around that commitment. Other reports suggest that AT&T has plans to make an
announcement in the next few weeks that it will be opening its systems in 2002, a time when it will be
prepared to handle an open access operation and when its @Home contract will expire.
There has been considerable press coverage on this report, but none of the details mentioned here have
been confirmed.
Deborah Lathen, chief of the FCC’s Cable Services Bureau issued a report last week that urged the
agency not to impose open access regulations. Upon release of the report, Kennard said that cable’s 3
percent share of the net access market was too small to warrant government action.
The Florida Internet Service Providers Association announced support for an open access stipulation by
the Miami-Dade County Commissioners, which is scheduled to hold a meeting and vote on open access on
October 19.
The Telecommunications Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council and the
Digital Coast Roundtable have issued a letter to the FCC urging the commission to develop national
regulations rather than allowing local and state regulators to set guidelines on open access.
The Fairfax City Council voted last week to impose open access on Cox as an amendment to a transfer of
Media General.
Oral arguments in the AT&T appeal to the 9th circuit court were once again delayed. The case will now
be heard on Nov 1 in Portland.
Common Cause, an open access advocacy group has criticized AT&T for running ads in Denver that
refer to endorsements by councilmembers of its open access position. The group is calling the ads
inappropriate and misleading. Denver will vote on the open access issue this fall. RMI and US West
formed an open access advocacy group to campaign for open access in the city. The group is known as
Citizens for Competitive Cable.
The city of Portland received 9 responses to its RFQ for a broadband provider that would operate an open
access data service. The complete results will be reported by Councilman Erik Sten on Nov 8. US West
and GTE were among the respondents.
In response to the City of Somerville, Massachusetts pursuing an open access initiative, MediaOne has
delayed its rollout of Road Runner service in the area. Judge Charles J. Beard, a special magistrate named
by the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy supported MediaOne’s stand off.
In a non-binding report, the official said that open access should not be an issue considered by regulators
weighing a transfer.
The Telecommunications Advocacy Project filed a petition against the merger of AT&T and MediaOne
based on the group’s allegation that cable companies are not aggressively offering cable modem services
in low-income neighborhoods.
Pacific Bell got upset with Cox and Time Warner after the two refused to run a DSL commercial.
Cogeco announced that it will file a motion for leave to appeal Telecom Decision CRTC 99-11 issued by
the CRTC last month. The ruling mandated open access based on a resale of bandwidth at a 25% discount
from the lowest retail rate.
Yahoo!’s Open Access Coverage
http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/Tech/Bandwidth_News
09-30-99
Regional Cablesystems has announced that it will begin offering competitive access service in Sudbury on
October 1. Initially, Vianet, ON-Link and Cyberbeach will be able to market cable modem services to
7,900 homes. Regional already provides open access in Timmins.
The OpenNet Coalition filed a “white paper” with the FCC entitled “Frequently Asked Questions About
AT&T’s Acquisition of MediaOne, Open Access and the Public Internet.” The document covers 15
questions.
Regional Cablesystems
http://www.regionalcable.com
OpenNet Coalition
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
09-21-99
Last Tuesday, the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission ordered cable
operators to sell high-speed Internet access to ISPs at rates 25% cheaper than their lowest retail rates.
The organization said that Canadian operators must make the services available to the ISPs within 90
days. These terms will be maintained until ISPs get direct access to the cable infrastructure, which is
expected in mid-2000.
Oral arguments in the AT&T appeal have been scheduled for November 3 at 9:00 am in the Pioneer
Court House in Portland.
More amicus briefs filed. Portland and Multnomah County filed a brief. OpenNet Coalition, which now
counts 700 members, has filed its statement to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Predictably, @Home
responded with a press announcement. A collection of so-called consumer advocacy groups filed a brief in
support of Portland. Of those, a group new on the scene, TURN (The Utility Reform Network) issued a
series of public statements that were entertaining including:
"In the future, cable is likely to be the only form of high-speed access available to many customers" and
"AT&T has the potential to become the arbiter of what the public sees, hears and reads. For example,
cable operators could restrict access to web sites that do not allow commercial advertising or prevent
access to video that competes with cable programming. AT&T should not be able to kick off the Internet
soap box anyone whose message AT&T finds inconvenient."
Atlanta Mayor William Campbell has signed onto one of the briefs in support of Portland. Campbell will be
pushing for an open access stipulation to be placed on the MediaOne transfer in a meeting to be held in a
couple of weeks. Campbell is a member of the FCC State and Local Government and Advisory
Committee, a group that unsuccessfully tried to persuade the FCC to open a docket on open access.
In Colorado, a group known as Club 20 has announced that it would urge the FCC to force open access.
In Somerville, Massachusetts, legislators have asked the FCC to open a docket on open access.
Representative Michael Capuano and Mayor Dorothy Gay are supporting the effort.
Local officials in Fairfax County, Virginia voted unanimously to approve the Media General - Cox transfer
after deciding that it had no authority to require open access.
09-13-99
Anatel, a Brazilian telecom agency has announced that it will consider an open access regulation in Brazil
during a public hearing scheduled to run from September 3-24. Long meeting.
Final briefs in the AT&T appeal are due to be received by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by September
14. The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors reported that it will file a
friend of the court brief in support of Portland.
@Home released a statement last week in response to the brief filed by Portland. However, it didn't
include any new or newsworthy arguments.
The date to hear oral arguments, initially set for October 6, will be postponed. A new date has not been
finalized.
The ISP Coalition, headed by US West, has asked the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to
require open access as a stipulation for the transfer of MediaOne franchises to AT&T. First, the PUC
must be authorized to make such a requirement of a cable company. Therefore, the ISPs will participate in
hearings on Senate file 2133 that would give PUC authority of over cable ops. The PUC is playing along.
It will be accepting comments from the ISP Coalition until October 11. Reply comments will be due by
November 1. A hearing is scheduled for the week of November 15.
In Massachusetts, Attorney General Thomas Reilly has declared a statewide initiative to require open
access, a proclamation designed to instigate a process to get the open access issue on a state ballot. In
order to get it on the ballot, Reilly must first gather 57,100 signatures by December 1 in order to gain
consideration from the legislature. If the issue isn't taken up by May, Reilly will need another 9,517
signatures by July 5 to have a shot at placement on the November, 2000 ballot. MSOs are fighting the
initiative, claiming that it violates each requirement in Article 48 of the state constitution.
09-07-99
OpenNet's co-director said that the group would be filing comments with the FCC on the merger of
AT&T and MediaOne in September. SBC and GTE along with a collection of so-called consumer
advocacy groups have already filed a complaint, asking the FCC to either deny the merger or require open
access.
Pennsylvanians for TOTAL Competition disclosed support for open access this week with a press
announcement in which the organization's president claimed that under "AT&T's closed system,
consumers will be restricted to one Internet provider, one cable provider and one long distance company
thereby leading to higher prices."
In Denver, three men joined to create the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation and file a protest with the
Denver Election Commission last week challenging OpenNet's initiative to place the open access issue on
the November ballot allowing the city's citizens to vote on a requirement. The commission reserves the
right to validate protests over a 50-day period, and since the ballot items must be finalized by September 8,
OpenNet officials concede that it is unlikely that the open access issue will make it on the ballot this year.
Richard Bjurstrom, chairman of the group, said that the proposal was unconstitutional because it would
only apply to one company and that hundreds of signatures on OpenNet's petition were not valid.
Editors for Cable World magazine identified some companies playing on the wrong side of the fence in the
open access debate. The publication reported that William Schrader, Chairman and CEO of PSINet
believes that any policy requiring cable operators to open their broadband pipes is a bad idea. He is a
member of a group of 150 ISPs, the Commercial Internet Exchange (CIX), that reportedly "largely agree"
with him on this issue.
In addition to CIX, Hands Off the Internet, is also a group against open access regulations. The group, a
spawn of AT&T includes members from Americans for Tax Reform, the Software Association of New
Hampshire and Americans for Sound Public Policy.
On the other end, Cable World found that Bob Gessner, VP of Massillon Cable TV in Ohio thinks,
"unbundling is an inevitability and not a bad idea at that."
For those living outside the U.S., this regular column in this report may suggest that there is a lot of
community concern and involvement in policy dealing with technology in the country. Step back, and allow
for some cynicism. Most of the groups mentioned here that carry names like the "Concerned Citizens of
California" and such were created by either AT&T, AOL, @Home, an ISP or group of ISPs or a MSO or
group of MSOs and all of them, even the ones with backgrounds established before this issue developed,
have a money trail leading back to one of these financially interested parties.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments on October 6 in Seattle from
AT&T in its case against the two Oregon based municipalities that have required open access. Officials
from AT&T and the counties of Portland and Multnomah will have 20 minutes to argue their case. Parties
filing friend of the court briefs, if approved by the court to do so, will be able to share their comments
within their ally's 20-minute allotment.
OpenNet
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
AT&T
http://www.att.com
08-24-99
In response to AT&T's plea to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a decision that
allowed the City of Portland to require open access, the FCC issued a brief that urged the court
to allow the issue to be resolved on a federal level. A group of tech companies field a separate
letter that requested the same. The letter was signed by reps from Angara, Arepa, BancBoston
robertson Stephens, bCandid, Broadcom, Charles Schwab, Com21, Constellar, Critical Path,
E-Stamp, GI, iMall, Linksys, Macromedia, Ninth House Network, Onsale, Positive
Communications, RealNames, Rhythms NetConnections, Rosenbluth Interactive,
RxCentric.com, Segasoft, Terayon, Tioga, and WebMD.
The letter follows a similar letter sent to the FCC by a group dubbed the Information Technology
Industry Council. This group consists of 3Com, apple, Cisco, Compaq, Dell, Eastman Kodak,
Gateway, H-P, Hitachi, IBM, Intel, Lexmark, Lucent, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NCR,
Panasonic, Pitney Bowes, SGI, Sony, StorageTek, Symbol Technologies, Tektronix, Tyco,
Unisys, and Xerox.
@Home issued its own brief to the court.
OpenNet said that it has gained 231 members in the last four weeks fueling its overall
membership to include around 400 companies. The group, which of course, is mostly comprised
of ISPs, has announced that it will take its efforts to Boston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Richmond,
Dayton and parts of Florida in an attempt to block franchise transfers of MediaOne systems to
AT&T systems.
Rich Bond, Co-Director of the clan stated that "if AT&T wins this fight, ISPs will be locked out
and consumers will lose the Internet that they know and enjoy today."
Consumer advocacy organizations are urging the FCC to prohibit an acquisition of MediaOne by
AT&T The groups include the Consumers Union, the Consumer Federation of America and the
Media Access Project. The groups state that the acquisition would violate antitrust laws and
federal rules restricting the number of cable customers a single company can control.
AT&T
http://www.att.com
Information Technology Industry Council
http://www.itic.org
@Home
http://www.home.net
OpenNet
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
OpenNet Membership List
http://www.opennetcoalition.org/news/934819854.shtml
Consumers Union
http://www.consumersunion.org
Media Access Project
http://www.mediaaccess.org
Consumer Federation of America
http://www.consumerfed.org
08-13-99
William Kennard, Chairman of the FCC, rejected a request by open access advocates to conduct an
investigation into the market for high-speed Internet services. Kennard responded in a letter stating that "a
formal proceeding would chill investment in cable modem service, which in turn world reduce the
competitive pressure on local phone companies and others who are currently investing in alternative means
of providing consumers with access to broadband." He also added comment about AOL's campaign to
woo local regulators into open access regulations. "The prospect of thousands of different regulatory
authorities independently establishing separate regimes regarding broadband access will frustrate the rapid
deployment we should be encouraging."
Andrew Schwartzman, representing Media Access project, an open access advocacy group responded to
Kennard's decision by stating that "it is antithetical to everything Kennard has stood for to interfere with
state and local governments' decisions and to bring all of the abuses of the cable television industry to the
Internet." His comments marked the second time in a week that a lawyer has used the word "antithetical"
in the open access debate.
J. Christopher Grace, a business partner to AOL, has formed a group that has filed a proposal to have an
item placed on the November, 2000 ballot in Massachusetts, allowing citizens to vote on the open access
requirement. If the state's attorney general approves the legality of the item, Grace's group would then
need to collect 67,000 signatures in support of adding the item to the ballot. Other members of Grace's
group include a Harvard University professor, a publicist, and Hale and Dorr attorneys.
On August 10, AT&T urged the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a decision made by a federal
court supporting the city of Portland's open access requirement. AT&T claimed that the city violated four
sections of the Telecom Act and the Constitution's commerce clause, and the First Amendment free
speech clause.
Commissioners in central Florida are kicking themselves for approving system transfers from TCI to Time
Warner. Local government authorities were not aware of the open access issue, and that their role
promised some serious wining and dining from AOL and AT&T attorneys. Thom Greene, a commissioner
in Lake Mary said that his group's decision might have been different had lobbyists come to town.
Some towns involved in the system swap have not finalized agreements for the transfer.
Sydney Rubin, director of OpenNet said that it would not target TW unless it attempted a big merger.
Yahoo! Open Access Resources
http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/Tech/Bandwidth_News
@Home's Open Access Resources
http://www.home.net/source
OpenNet Coalition
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
08-03-99
The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco delayed an ultimate ruling regarding open access
regulation via a 9-2 vote in support of revisiting the subject in December after the Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals has ruled on ATandT's lawsuit against the City of Portland. As part of the
Board of Supervisors' decision, the group did officially approve the TCI-ATandT franchise
transfer but it has issued a Amicus or friend of the court brief to the appeals court in support of
the City of Portland's open access position. And, as mentioned above, the committee has
reserved the right to vote on the open access issue at a later time.
William Kennard, Chairman of the FCC responded to the decision by stating, "We are pleased
that the city of San Francisco has recognized that the best way to bring customers faster
Internet access is by unleashing innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, not armies of lawyers and
regulators." Everybody seemed to like the decision including the Mayor of San Francisco,
ATandT, @Home and the OpenNet Coalition.
According to other odd terms, the board has required ATandT to provide unrestricted access to
all Internet content and to allow subscribers a single "click through directly to unaffiliated" ISPs.
Jeff Chester of the Center for Media Education introduced the content restriction issue as an
argument for open access. Last week, Chester's group was behind a press statement blasting
Cisco for offering the option to use parental filtering software with its cable modem systems. In
response to a brochure distributed at the NCTA show that mentioned the software, Chester
commented, "This is the owner's manual that they're providing to the cable industry to
monopolize the Internet." Chester did not mention whether or not he thought Cisco was also
sending up black helicopters to round-up AOL users.
AOL tasted its soles last week when it attacked the Microsoft Network and Yahoo! for
developing an instant messenger client that supported communication between the traditional
Internet and the AOL infrastructure. An AOL rep insisted that the two competitors did not have
the right to introduce traffic on its private network. Sound like a familiar argument? Later in the
week, an AOL rep amended its position, stating that its opposition to the MSN and Yahoo!
instant messenger was based on privacy and security issues and that it supported the
development of an open standard that would allow this kind of communication.
ATandT's general counsel Jim Cicconi called AOL's position "hypocritical and antithetical to the
very ethos of the Internet." Not sure what that means, but it sounds like an insult. You wouldn't
want to play Scrabble with this guy.
ATandT and MediaOne have teamed to file a lawsuit against Broward County for illegally
imposing open access regulations. The suit was filed separate from the one filed against the
County by Comcast and Advanced Cable Communications.
Yahoo!'s Open Access Page
http://headlines.yahoo.com/Full_Coverage/Tech/Bandwidth_News
@Home's Open Access Page
http://www.home.net/source
Internet Ventures' Open Access Page
http://www.ivn.net/strat/access.html
OpenNet Coalition
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
07-27-99
Ameritech said that it would launch a cable modem trial over its HFC system known as
Americast in Chicago to demonstrate how multiple providers such as AOL can offer data
services over a cable system. The demo promises to be similar to the one delivered by GTE in
Florida a couple of months ago.
A FCC staffer introduced a report urging the government body not to impose regulations on
cable operators. There is no binding value to the research.
ISPs in California organized a new open access group known as the Southern California Open
Access Alliance. Members include the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Associations,
Westside Civic Federation, Black Business Association, Latin Business Association, GTE,
PacBell, MindSpring, AztecaNet, AOL, Pacoima Chamber of Commerce, Crenshaw Chamber
of Commerce, a bunch of non- disclosed ISPs and even a group of individuals, including the
Reverend Cecil L. Murray, a senior pastor for the First AME Church. The group will push for
open access in L.A.
In St. Louis, the National Association of Counties, a group representing 1,800 U.S. counties,
passed an open access resolution to develop a national open access policy.
Comcast, ATandT and Advanced Cable Communications have joined to file suit against
Broward County in U.S. District Court in Miami on the basis that county officials approved an
illegal ordinance earlier this month that imposes open access on cable operators. In the county
affected, Comcast provides video services to 16,500 subs. ISP Channel offers data services over
Advanced Cable's system, which serves 47,000 video subs in Broward.
The Bay Area Open Access Coalition got perturbed this week after ATandT refused to air an
open access propaganda ad in San Francisco. The group accuses the MSO of "censorship,
information control, content management", and "Orwellian Big Brother" tactics used to
manipulate the cable airwaves. The ISPs stated that they simply wanted to counter an ATandT
PR effort in the area tagged "Hands off the Internet."
@Home proved to be less creative when slinging mud back. The provider simply accused the
OpenNet Coalition of embracing a "Spin First, Read Later" approach and said that the group
ignored the laws of economics and competition. It was not confirmed that @Home reps will
attend the South Park movie this week for ideas on some more colorful attacks.
Ameritech
http://www.ameritech.com
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Southern California Open Access Alliance
http://www.openaccessalliance.org
Bay Area Open Access Coalition
http://www.baoc.net
OpenNet Coalition
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
@Home's Open Access Debate Resources
http://www.home.net/source
07-19-99
In California, SB1217, an open access initiative put forth
to Los Angeles legislatures was declared dead and not
even voted upon by the Assembly Utilities and
Commerce Committee.
In Florida, Broward County commissioners voted 4-3 in
favor of an ordinance requiring open access.
@Home introduced a collection of articles and press
announcements related to the open access debate. The
resource is accessible at http://www.home.net/source
06-28-99
Last week, dialup ISPs met with the Spokane City-County Cable Advisory Board for five hours
to persuade the group to place an open access requirement on ATandT. Disguised as a public
hearing, open access advocates recruited "public testimony" from individuals as far out in the
Spokane suburbs as Portland. Norm Thomas, Chairman of the Mt. Hood Cable Advisory Board
participated in the local event. The Spokane board plans to meet on June 30th to discuss the
open access issue further.
In San Francisco, the Public Utilities Committee rejected a proposal by city staff to forego open
access based on ATandT's commitment to upgrade its network. The group instructed city staff
to reopen negotiations with ATandT over the issue.
After spending 6-months studying the issue, the Information Technology Commission of Los
Angeles rejected a proposal by dialup ISPs that would require open access. The report was
scheduled to move to the City Council for review, but the meeting, scheduled for June 18th was
canceled because of the resignation of three of the five members from the group. OpenNet
Coalition, an open access advocacy organization stated the departing members left because they
"would rather quit than vote for a plan that is so blatantly anti-consumer and anti-business."
OpenNet suggests that open access is not being required in L.A. because ATandT is tight with
the city's mayor.
Also, last week, Sprint and AOL made pleas to a House committee to require open access.
In separate news, Michael Armstrong, CEO of ATandT said in a statement at the NCTA show
that he predicted the open access ruling in Portland would be overturned on appeal.
AT&T
http://www.att.com
OpenNet Coalition
http://www.opennetcoalition.org
06-22-99
GTE made a political play last week by demonstrating a cable operation in Clearwater in which multiple
providers offered data services. GTE worked with AOL and CompuServe Classic to develop the demo for
lawmakers, in an effort designed to show the technical ease of rigging a cable system to support multiple
providers. From its Clearwater project, GTE concluded that a cable operator could support multiple
providers on a 80,000 sub system for a one-time investment of $60,000 using off the shelf technology.
@Home responded to GTE's conclusions with its own press announcement, which refuted GTE's
methodology and findings. The exchange represented a new height in the level of publicly issued nasty talk
between the two groups.
In other news, last week, following a decision by a federal judge to uphold an open access stipulation
placed on AT&T by Oregon legislators, FCC Chairman William Kennard publicly commented on the
potential dangers of the emergence of thousands of different local regulations for broadband service
providers. Kennard stated that "the information superhighway will not work if there are 30,000 different
technical standards or 30,000 different regulatory structures for broadband. We have to have a national
policy."
Kennard did propose any solutions, but instead simply noted that the FCC "can't overreact to one federal
district court decision. We're very early on this. There are number of options that we can explore. At this
point we need to allow the legal process to play out a little bit more."
Speaking of the cable industry, Kennard said that "we do not have a monopoly in broadband. We have a
no-opoly because the fact is, most Americans don't even have broadband. We have to get these pipes
built."
GTE
http://www.gte.com
@Home
http://www.home.net
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
05-21-99
Regional Cablesystems, a Canadian MSO serving small markets, has announced that it has opened access
to its cable plant in Timmins, Ontario for traditional ISPs to offer cable modem services. Presently,
On-Link and Vianet are offering DOCSIS-based residential and business services over the system.
Regional plans to open access to its other systems, which are located in British Columbia, Alberta,
Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.
Regional Cablesystems
http://www.regionalcable.com
04-16-99
Several ISP groups masked in friendly names (Center for Media Education, Consumers Union, Media
Access Project and the Consumer Project) held a press conference last week to try to draw awareness to
the open access agenda in the face of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on broadband access. In
addition to the usual rhetoric, the groups introduced a joint effort web site that contains open access
propaganda. The site works on the groups' campaign theme in which cable operators are defined as
"gatekeepers."
Open Access Propaganda Site
http://www.nogatekeepers.org
02-10-99
Last week, the FCC issued a report to Congress that indicated the agency would not impose access
regulations on cable operators at this time but would continue to monitor the market. The report did not
suggest that the FCC would drop the issue, but instead, that it was merely postponing its decision.
The decision not to decide brings no relief to local government bodies that have been lured into the open
access campaign by dial-up ISPs. However, David Olson, Director of the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory
Commission (initiated first local open access stipulation to TCI's franchise transfer request) managed to
spin the report with his proclamation that "no action by the FCC is a statement in itself. It's a clear
message that the locals have the green light to impose these open-access provisions."
Meanwhile, AOL is in the process of recruiting participants for its continued open access efforts. The
online service provider has teamed with MCI and US West to establish a group known as Open Net
Coalition. Last week, AOL announced that it has signed nine providers to its new group including Verio
and regional ISPs offering services in and around Dallas, Denver, Portland and Seattle.
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
01-37-99
Last week, AT& T announced that it will be filing a lawsuit against the Portland City Council for illegally
stipulating that the provider open access to its cable system to receive approval of a franchise transfer
from TCI to AT&T. It has also issued warnings to government officials in other markets that are
considering the requirement that state the MSO will postpone upgrades if it is forced to make its
bandwidth available to ISPs.
On the other side of the fence, Arizona Senator John McCain released a statement warning cable
operators that he would seek "quasi-common carrier" status for cable if it was successful in dominating the
broadband Internet access market. The statement was issued in conjunction with his efforts to convince
the FCC to allow baby bells to introduce DSL services without having to create separate subsidiaries. The
FCC will vote on a plan to lift long distance restrictions on the telcos for this purpose.
In other news, 18 ISPs have sent a letter to the FCC requesting open access regulation. In the letter, the
group states that "limiting consumer choice in Internet access will block the diversity and innovation that
are today the hallmark of the Internet and will introduce monopolistic practices into the open avenues of
the information superhighway." The letter goes on to state, "If cable operators control their broadband
networks in a way that erodes the fundamental openness of the Internet, consumers will have fewer
choices in products, services, features and price."
The letter was signed by MindSpring, the Washington Association of Internet Service Providers, Teleport,
MCI-WorldCom, US West, AOL, FlashNet, Internet America, Prodigy, Public Electronics Access to
Knowledge, the Oregon Internet Service Providers Association, ConnectNet, Rocky Mountain Internet,
CyberNet Northwest, Triax Internet Services, CyberRamp Internet Services, Qwest, and Voyager
Information Networks.
In Denver, local ISPs and telcos released a survey of Denver residents that was developed to indicate that
there was public support for open access. As one might guess, the survey indicated that Denver residents
supported "freedom of choice for their Internet service provider", a city council requirement that forced
TCI to "allow consumers to have access to the Internet service provider of their choice" and that it is
proper for local governments to "require TCI to open its system to all Internet service providers so that
consumers will have a choice." The press announcement did not mention whether or not Denver residents
considered the term "video programming" to mean "data."
AT&T
http://www.att.com
TCI
http://www.tci.com
01-11-99
The effort by national and regional dial-up ISPs and AOL to have regulated access to the cable
infrastructure has expanded from a FCC plea to the local government level. Triggered by the success that
open access proponents are having in blocking the transfer of TCI franchises to AT&T franchises, dial-up
providers are now approaching local government bodies in other TCI markets. According to press
announcements issued by the ISPs, local authorities in Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, King County
(Washington), and Wyoming are considering an open access provision as a stipulation for the transfer.
The Denver City Council will hold discussions about the transfer on January 19.
Chicago government officials are allowing the transfer without an open access requirement.
In Portland, city and county councils required that TCI/AT&T agree to open access by December 30 or
that its transfer request would be denied. In response, TCI/AT&T issued an acceptance to all transfer
requirements excepting open access. As a result, attorneys for the local bodies issued a statement to local
TCI/AT&T attorneys with a rejection notification and a request to extend the dialogue on the matter. Late
last week, AT&T officials reported that they have not decided on a formal response to the transfer denial.
Without a regulation decision by the FCC, the consequences of transfer denials on a market by market
basis are unclear. As long as the FCC finds open access to be illegal, the local requirements would be
nullified. However, growing requirements on the local level may influence the FCC's decision.
It is also unknown what problems may arise from one or more franchises being forced to operate under
the TCI name rather than be recognized as AT&T. According to David Olson, Director of the Mt. Hood
Cable Regulatory Commission and strong advocate of open access, TCI has already received a franchise
renewal that will allow it to offer services under the name in the Portland area through 2008. Therefore,
the transfer denial could result in the loss of only a name game. A TCI spokeswoman stated the
TCI/AT&T merger would not be in jeopardy unless one-quarter of the franchises failed to approve the
change in control.
The ISPs that are heavily campaigning for open access include AOL, US West, Rocky Mountain Internet,
Verio, MindSpring, Qwest, and Echostar.
Each of the proponents has the right to build its own hybrid fiber/coax network and operate in competition
with TCI/AT&T and other cable operators under the spirit of capitalism. RCN and Knology have emerged
as HFC operators that are overbuilding across the U.S. and competing directly with the big MSOs for
cable modem service subscribers. ISPs have this same opportunity. They also have the opportunity to
develop compelling bandwidth-intense content to compete with @Home. However, instead, it is much
cheaper for these ISPs to cry to the FCC to regulate cable and consequently punish the cable industry and
@Home for its vision and willingness to invest in the data communications and telecommunications
markets.
For a small ISP, the introduction of cable modem service may impact its business similar to the way a local
hardware store in a small town is impacted when Wal-Mart moves in. Wal-Mart usually has a prime
location, with a large selection of items at a cheap price. However, the federal government has never
required Wal-Mart to lease out space in its stores at a regulated rate so that an Ed's Hardware shop could
compete on a level playing field. It may seem unfair to Ed that his business has a big competitor that may
run him into the ground, but just as with the cable industry, Wal-Mart invests a lot of money (on an
identical currency system) to bring a greater choice of products to its markets.
However, in the open access effort, the Eds of the ISP business, with no capital, are not leading the
charge. Companies like AOL have the infrastructure and access to offer high-speed data services through
ADSL and other means, the content to compete with @Home, an enormous and loyal base of customers
that have been successfully duped into believing that AOL is the Internet, and enough petty cash to wire
the nation in fiber twice over.
Two years ago, AOL had the opportunity to present its service offering to the MSOs before they signed
with @Home and RoadRunner. The MSOs could have chosen to carry AOL exclusively. When the
agreements expire within the next five years, the ISPs will get the chance again to offer their deal and if it
beats the offer made by @Home, cable operators will take it.
Traditional Internet providers have the option to compete with Cable ISPs whether it is via the delivery of
data services through other high-speed infrastructures, through their own HFC infrastructure, or through
an agreement with a cable company, once existing service contracts have expired. However, they are
taking the economical approach by attempting to redefine the Telecommunications Act and to influence
the less techno-market savvy local government authorities with monopoly banter. If they are successful,
they reduce the cable industry to a common carrier and significantly devalue their multi-billion dollar
investments in their businesses.
AT&T
http://www.att.com
TCI
http://www.tci.com
AOL
http://www.aol.com
@Home
http://www.home.net
12-14-98
Two weeks ago, AT&T agreed to a leased access provision to be applicable to its TCI system in Portland,
Oregon. The concession followed a decision by the Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission (MHC) to
base the transfer of TCI's cable license on an agreement to open up its system to local ISPs. Initially,
AT&T rejected all offers that provided equal access, but the MSO ultimately agreed to leased access,
pending that the agreement included a stipulation that the deal would be invalid if future federal, state or
local laws emerged that would prohibit such an arrangement.
MHC agreed to the added verbiage, and scheduled the developing contract to be forwarded to the
Portland City Council and Multnomah County Board of Commissioners for approval this week. However,
recent developments are apparently hampering progress. According to a source close to the matter,
AT&T and MHC are at odds over the inclusion of commercial leased access. The dispute may kill the
deal.
According to an AT&T rep, leased access was approved based on the MSO's confidence that the FCC
would not impose regulation on cable operators offering data services.
Last week, a group of industry vendors, providers and VCs joined the cable operators' plea to the FCC to
reject regulation proposals. Thirteen execs signed a 2-page letter to FCC officials expressing opposition to
leased access. The letter states that "government intervention is particularly misplaced in the case of new
broadband networks deployed by entities that lack the market position of the traditional telephone
companies."
The letter was signed by brass from Intel, Novell, Cisco, Compaq, IBM, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
(@Home), Com21, New Enterprise Associates, Integral Capital Partners, SegaSoft Networks, Accel
Partners, Arepa, and Brilliant Digital Entertainment.
Support for leased access is also building. In addition to the well documented effort for leased access by
AOL, national dial-up ISPs and electronics retailers, Internet Ventures, a tier two turnkey cable ISP,
announced that it had sent letters to ten cable operators requesting access to their systems based on its
rights under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Last week, a consumer advocacy group, the
High-Speed Access Coalition (HiSAC), announced its formation and agenda. The group will urge the FCC
to adopt equal access regulation. In its press announcement, HiSAC emphasized equal access to phone
networks for the purpose of offering DSL services, but there was also a reference to the cable industry.
Considering the dollars at stake, you can expect that the issue of regulation is going to pull in many more
parties and develop into a full scale war between dial-up and broadband ISPs. It is just beginning.
TCI
http://www.tci.com
FCC
http://www.fcc.gov
Full text of letter to FCC
http://bbb/fcc.html