FCC to Vote on Cable Competition Measure
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By JOHN DUNBAR  WASHINGTON - Cable television rates keep going up while prices for other communications services are going down, says the nation's chief communications regulator, and he blames local governments for blocking competition.
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By Richard Locker locker@commercialappealcom  NASHVILLE - AT&T unveiled its long-awaited, hotly contested legislation to streamline its entry into cable TV in Tennessee on Wednesday, with huge implications for consumers over cable competition, rates and service.
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U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell will be permitted to cast the tie- breaking vote on AT&T Inc.'s  proposed acquisition of BellSouth Corp., the agency's general counsel said on Friday.
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(InfoWorld) - Several lawmakers protested a spectrum auction proposal from the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), saying his plan could limit the number of bidders and raise costs to consumers. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin's plan would require winners of part of theÂ 700MHz band of spectrum, to be auctioned by early next year, to accept any wireless devices, including phone handsets, allowing customers to transfer devices between mobile providers. Martin's plan would also include net neutrality-like rules, prohibiting auction winners from blocking or slowing Web content from other providers. But several members of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, many of them Republicans, questioned Martin's proposed rules, which have support of the majority of the FCC. Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican, said he was "very disappointed" that fellow Republican Martin was proposing regulations for part of the 60MHz of spectrum to be auctioned. Some proposals byÂ consumer groups and Frontline WirelessÂ would also require auction winners to provide wholesale access to competitors, and Barton praised Martin for not including that provision. "It's not quite as bad as the Frontline plan, but I don't think it's as good as absolute no-condition auction," Barton said. Many Republicans suggested that auction conditions would decrease the value of the spectrum. Congress has budgeted the auction to raise $10 billion with about half of that going toward reducing the U.S. government budget deficit. "Congress has already spent that money," said Representative Charles Gonzalez, a Texas Democrat. Questions about Martin's proposal came from a handful of Democrats. Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat and chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, asked FCC commissioners whether the device-portability rules would increase the cost of wireless phone plans. Customers want to be able to take their mobile phones with them when they switch carriers, but carriers generally haven't offered that option, Martin said. "I think the benefits outweigh the costs and concerns," he said. Barton suggested that winning bidders could implement the device-portability and net neutrality proposals without FCC mandate. Google has indicatedÂ it could bid billions of dollars, Barton noted. "Why shouldn't we just let Google bid?" Barton said. "If they've got a better idea, why don't they go into the marketplace and bid their four or five billion dollars?" There's customer demand for device portability, but carriers haven't acted on it, Martin said. Wireless carriers didn't offer phone number portability until the FCC forced them to in late 2003, then millions of U.S. residents took advantage of it, he said. Asked whether they supported Martin's proposals, the FCC's two Democrats said they did, while the two other Republicans said they hadn't made their minds up yet. "Please let me keep my phone and let me take it wherever I want," said subcommittee chairman Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. The so-called open-access rules are necessary for new broadband competition to challenge cable and telecom providers, said FCC commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat. The 700MHz auction is the last major spectrum auction on the horizon, many participants said. "This is one proceeding where we cannot fail," Copps said. Some lawmakers suggested Martin's proposal doesn't go far enough. Representative Charles "Chip" Pickering, a Mississippi Republican, called on the FCC to require wholesale access rules as well. Wholesale access would allow new and innovative services to flourish on the networks using the spectrum, he said. Martin's plan would "enhance markets and competition," he added.
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The Supreme Court Friday agreed to consider whether the federal government should require cable television operators to open their cable lines to Internet service providers offering competing services. -The Washington Post
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A Senate committee voted yesterday to transfer airwaves used by dozens of television stations to spectrum-starved public safety organizations but included a provision that critics say
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Broadcasting unions vote to ballot for strike action if planned BBC job cuts go ahead.
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WASHINGTON -- The US Supreme Court decided on Friday that it would consider whether cable companies should be forced to give third-party ISPs access to their networks.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is taking the middle ground in the net neutrality debate that pits large telecommunications operators against Internet giants.
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It has been 11 years since Congress voted to break the cable television industry's stranglehold on set-top boxes &#151; the devices that consumers need to receive digital programming and change channels.
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About 40 operation and engineering employees at New England Sports Network will vote Thursday whether to join the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, a union that is part of Communications Workers of America, one of the nation's largest unions.
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has asked the Supreme Court to hear an appeal that could determine whether cable broadband providers can be forced to open their networks to other Internet providers.
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Federal regulators Thursday rejected a request by broadcasters to require cable operators to carry multiple digital channel offerings from local television stations.
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By Michael Martz, Richmond Times-Dispatch  Feb. 16--A City Council committee voted unanimously last night to let the state's largest telephone company bring cable TV competition to most homes in Richmond.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress may take another crack at net neutrality and related broadband legislation when it returns from a month-long recess next week, but some observers aren't laying odds on either package passing. In June, the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved a wide-ranging broadband bill and the House of Representatives passed its own broadband bill. Both bills would streamline the franchising process telecommunications carriers need to go through to offer Internet Protocol-based television in competition with cable TV. However, both the committee and the House rejected attempts to strengthen net neutrality requirements in the bills. TheÂ battle lines over net neutrality have, if anything, become more defined since those votes, and some people involved in the broadband debate say the legislation is unlikely to pass in a highly politicized election year. Supporters of the broadband bill had hoped to get a vote in the full Senate before its August recess, but Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, placed a hold on the bill, threatening to filibuster it unless stronger net neutrality provisions were added. Wyden wants the Senate to prohibit large broadband providers such as AT&T Inc. and Comcast Corp. from blocking or slowing Web content from competitors. This week, a Wyden spokeswoman said the hold is still on the bill. "We will not lift it until there are strong net neutrality provisions in the bill," she said. Neither side has offered a net neutrality compromise during the August congressional recess, said a spokesman of one organization involved in the debate. TheÂ net neutrality debate has turned largely into a partisan issue, at least on Capitol Hill. Many Democrats have sided with consumer groups and many large e-commerce companies backing a strong net neutrality requirement. Many Republicans have backed the large broadband providers and network equipment vendors opposed to a new law. Congressional leaders have targeted Oct. 6 as the adjournment date for the year. The entire House and one third of the Senate is up for re-election in November, and many observers say it will be difficult to pass controversial legislation during the last days of the congressional session. If the legislation doesn't pass this year, the new Congress would have to start over with a new broadband bill in 2007. Net neutrality advocates say the future of an open Internet is at risk after the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Supreme Court last year removed requirements that large broadband providers share their networks with competing Internet service providers. But opponents argue new regulations aren't needed because there's little evidence of broadband providers blocking Web content. Broadband providers need the flexibility to offer services such as video on separate, clutter-free networks, they say, and they should be free to investigate new pricing models in which they charge Web sites new fees for faster customer access. During the August congressional recess, net neutrality advocates hosted rallies in 25 U.S. cities, including New York, Detroit, Denver and Baltimore, and delivered petitions to lawmakers. Net neutrality advocates also used blogs and video sharing Web sites like YouTube to argue their point. As of Friday morning, there were 182 YouTube videos with "net neutrality" as keywords; most of them support a net neutrality law. The SaveTheInternet.com coalition has collected 1.1 million signatures in support of net neutrality, and it counts 26 senators who now support a net neutrality law and 14 who oppose one. "We think the momentum has swung to our side over the break," said Jim McGann, a spokesman for the It's Our Net coalition, another net neutrality advocacy group. "From where I stand, the grassroots support is building." At the same time, many employees of broadband providers and members of the labor union Communications Workers of America have contacted lawmakers and voiced opposition to a net neutrality law, said Mike McCurry, co-chairman of the Hands off the Internet coalition, representing companies opposed to a net neutrality law. And groups advocating for more cable TV competition have told lawmakers to push ahead with the broadband bill, said McCurry, once a press secretary for former U.S. President Bill Clinton. "This [bill] will stimulate competition and drive down prices, and why wouldn't we want to do that?" McCurry said. Even though net neutrality advocates have organized a "commendable" grassroots campaign, the majority of U.S. residents are unfamiliar with the net neutrality issue, McCurry said. They understand, however, that increased competition for cable TV could benefit them. "If you walk into any shopping mall and hold up a net neutrality sign, I don't expect you're going to get a response," McCurry said. "People just don't understand it." It's difficult to predict if Congress will act on the broadband bill before early October, he added. "This is one bill that could move because there's been action [in Congress]," he said. "If anything goes, this is set to go." REFERENCES:Battle lines drawn over net neutrality, Jul. 11, 2006Net neutrality in a nutshell, Jul. 17, 2006
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The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to consider whether the federal government should require cable television operators to open their cable lines to Internet service providers offering competing services.
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The United States Supreme Court on Friday said it will review whether cable companies should be forced to open their high-speed Internet lines to outside providers.