CONSUMER AND MEDIA ADVOCATES ASK FCC TO REQUIRE OPEN ACCESS TO
HIGH-SPEED CABLE-INTERNET NETWORKS

Cable-TV Internet Monopolies Hurt Consumers, Competition

WASHINGTON, DC - Consumer and media access advocates today called upon the FCC to take immediate action to preserve free expression and open access for high-speed Internet services delivered on cable TV systems. Responding to cable industry insistence that their Internet services should be subject to the same closed command and control model as it has used for cable television, the Consumer Federation of America, Consumer's Union, Consumer Project on Technology, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Media Access Project, the Center for Media Education, have asked FCC Chairman William Kennard to conduct an expedited rulemaking or other proceeding to insure that all Americans can speak and be heard on the Internet, and that competing Internet service providers will be able to provide choice and competition to their customers.

According to the filing, the current closed, cable TV monopolistic system hurts consumers by denying them choice and raising prices, while also threatening the open, competitive nature of the Internet. Broadband technology is capable of delivering Internet service through cable-TV networks as much as 100 times faster than what most consumers now see. The groups are asking the FCC to "retain in the broadband world the same openness and competition that exists in the narrowband world."

"This is a key issue for consumers," said Jamie Love, executive director of the Consumer Project on Technology. "The government should fight monopolistic control over information bottlenecks. The FCC can do something useful to protect consumers, or it can do nothing. We want some action. The FCC has had years to anticipate this dispute. It is time to provide leadership that protects consumers and ensures a level playing field in the important area of Internet content and commerce."

In its filing, the group argues that as broadband services emerge, it is critical to ensure that the last mile of infrastructure used to access Internet services develops in an open, accessible and competitive manner.

"We're at a fork in the information superhighway," said Andrew Schwartzman, president and CEO of the Media Access Project. "One way leads to open access, boundless innovation and free expression. The other has us follow the same path that made cable TV the closed, unresponsive and overpriced monopoly Americans have grown to hate."

According to the filing, the FCC's "public interest mandate requires it to promote the free flow of information in the marketplace of ideas. The Internet is not only the most dynamic engine for economic growth ever created, but it also has the potential to expand and transform artistic, social and political discourse." Smaller Internet service providers will be unable to extend their creative services if they are denied access to some or all of the broadband customer base.

"No one industry should be allowed to be a gatekeeper to the Internet," said Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Media Education. "The FCC's failure to ensure Internet broadband competition is setting in motion forces far more harmful than most potential Y2K threats. Unless the Commission acts swiftly, e-commerce will be harmed, consumers gouged, and diversity of sources stifled."

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