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BW1170 JUN 14,1999 5:44 PACIFIC 08:44 EASTERN
( BW)(DC-GTE)(GTE) SUMMARY: GTE Demonstrates Ease Of
Cable Open Access to Multiple ISPs; Clearwater Trial Shows
One-Time Investment of Less Than $1 Per Home Would
Provide Consumer Choice
Business Editors
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1999--GTE today announced that,
using its cable network in Clearwater, Fla., it has clearly established that cable modem
systems easily can be operated on an "open access" basis that allows customers to
select the Internet service provider (ISP) of their choice.
GTE conducted the Clearwater demonstration project over the past two months in
conjunction with AOL, CompuServe Classic, as well as its own ISP, GTE.net.
GTE Executive Vice President and General Counsel William P. Barr said: "Using the
excuse that it's not technically feasible to give customers a choice of ISPs, cable
companies have been forcing their customers to pay for and use the ISPs that they
own, such as @Home and RoadRunner.
"GTE's demonstration pilot flatly discredits the claim that open access and
consumer choice are technologically complicated and costly. Using a simple,
off-the-shelf device, GTE has shown there is a low-cost solution that is feasible,
flexible, scalable and easy to incorporate, giving consumers a real choice."
GTE is uniquely positioned to demonstrate the feasibility of open access. While it
owns cable systems in Florida and California, it is primarily an Internet company with
a substantial ISP (GTE.net) and a large local phone company that already offers
customers open access to the Internet.
Describing results of the pilot program, Barr said, "This open access solution is
inexpensive; it works on every kind of cable system capable of offering Internet
access, and it involves no intrusion into the cable operator's management of its own
network."
George Vradenburg, AOL Senior Vice President for Global and Strategic Policy said:
"GTE has proven that open access works as well on cable as it does on phone lines.
Cable providers can easily and affordably open up their networks for high-speed
Internet competition - and they should do so now. American consumers deserve
nothing less.
"Consumers don't want to pay for two ISPs to get the one they want - regardless
of whether they are connecting over cable or telephone wires - and this
demonstration proves once and for all that there is no 'technical' reason they should
ever have to. We know now that when the cable industry says it 'can't' open its
network, it really means it 'won't'," Vradenburg said.
Consumers Are Denied a True Choice Today
Today, Americans with high-speed cable modem service don't have a choice of
Internet service providers. Cable companies have refused to open their networks as
telephone companies have done. Rather, cable companies package cable modem
service together with their affiliated ISP service.
If consumers want to choose their own ISP (such as GTE.net or AOL), they are
forced to pay twice, once to purchase the cable company's affiliated ISP and a second
time for the ISP that they prefer.
In addition, this doubling up causes a deterioration of service quality and allows
the cable company to control what the ISP delivers to the customer. Such a scheme
locks customers into the cable company's chosen ISP in order to get high-speed
Internet access, and denies consumers effective choice.
Multiple Solutions Demonstrated
Working with several different vendors and "off-the-shelf" available equipment,
GTE made changes to its cable modem platform that allows competing ISPs to have
direct access to their customers. The technological solutions demonstrated by GTE
work whether the cable system is analog or digital. They will work with all varieties of
cable modems.
"Our solution requires a single one-time investment of $60,000 to give 80,000
customers a choice of ISPs," said Rick Wilson, president of GTE's subsidiary Media
Ventures.
"That's less than a dollar a home passed. We took on this experiment because we
know that our customers want choices. And GTE accomplished in less than two
months, and with minimal expense, what the cable industry said couldn't be done.
Today GTE demonstrated that consumers can have a choice of ISPs whether their
cable company uses the technology of today, tomorrow or the next millennium," he
added.
On-Going Public Policy Debate
Congress is currently weighing two bills that would require cable modem service
providers to open up their networks to competing ISPs. In addition, numerous local
communities and several states have entered the public policy debate despite cable
industry threats of litigation.
Just last week, a District Judge in Portland, Ore., ruled that cities have the
authority to ensure open access and competition in cable-delivered Internet services.
GTE strongly supports these efforts to ensure continued consumer choice of ISPs.
"Today's announcement debunks one of the myths the cable companies have tried
to create to block open access," said GTE General Counsel Barr. "The path is now
clear for legislators and regulators to ensure that cable customers have the same
choices that telephone customers already enjoy."
About GTE
With 1998 revenues of more than $25 billion, GTE is a leading telecommunications
provider with one of the industry's broadest arrays of products and services.
In the United States, GTE provides local service in 28 states and wireless service in
17 states, as well as nationwide long-distance, directory, video and internetworking
services ranging from dial-up Internet access for residential and small-business
consumers to Web-based applications for Fortune 500 companies. Outside the
United States, the company serves customers on five continents.
--30--CF/ph*
CONTACT: GTE
Bob Bishop, 202/463-5206; (Pager: 800/706-1719)
bbishop@dcoffice.gte.com
or
Briana Gowing, 972/507-6126
briana.gowing@hq.gte.com
KEYWORD: DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FLORIDA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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