"This puts a spotlight on what's been, unfortunately, a very obscure
issue," Chester said. Chester said that he hoped the ACLU would be able
to take advantage of its "longstanding relationships" on Capitol Hill
and elsewhere in Washington to held develop stronger opposition to the
telecommunications giants arrayed against open-access requirements.
Because cable networks, unlike phone networks, were built by competitive
companies operating without support from the U.S. government, cable
companies have not typically been forced to abide by the same
open-access requirements placed on phone companies.
But as the cable industry continues to consolidate, the ACLU and others
argue that cable companies are establishing an illegal and improper
monopoly over the emerging high-speed Internet market.
The FCC is currently considering a proposal to classify cable modem
service as an "information service," which would effectively insulate
cable companies from any of the federal openness rules surrounding
telecommunications services.
The FCC is also considering reclassifying digital subscriber line (DSL)
offerings as information services. If approved, that move would allow
the nation's four local bell phone giants to squeeze competing ISPs off
of their DSL networks.
Traditional dial-up ISP's say that those regulatory moves could prevent
them from offering high-speed Internet services over the networks
controlled by the phone and cable industries.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell has long argued that because there are
several different forms of high-speed Internet service -- cable,
wireless, satellite and DSL -- consumers have choices regardless of how
much competition there is in any given medium.
But Consumer Federation of America (CFA) Research Director Mark Cooper
today argued that, as the market stands, DSL and cable are the only
mediums with any significant nationwide penetration.
"Two competitors, even three, even if they are well-matched, [are] not
enough in most markets and particularly is not enough in
telecommunications," Cooper said. "Two guys find real easy ways to share
markets [and] to avoid competition."
Cooper pointed to the cable industry's commanding position in the
residential high-speed market and the DSL industry's equally dominant
place in the business market to illustrate his argument.
But AT&T spokesman Jim McGann said that his firm -- the nation's largest
cable owner -- is already taking big steps toward opening its networks
to competition. AT&T Broadband has already inked deals with ISPs
EarthLink, Net1Plus, and Internet Central, that allow those companies to
offer Internet services over AT&T's networks.
"Since the cable companies are moving in this direction, there's simply
no need for government regulation in this area," McGann said.
AT&T Broadband added fuel to the open access debate last year when it
announced plans to merge with fellow cable giant Comcast Corp. The proposed merger was formally approved today by the two companies' shareholders but still must be approved by federal regulators.
In the documents released today, the ACLU argues that rules must be
established to ensure that cable companies not only open their networks,
but that they do so in a way that protects the rights of their
competitors.
