Battle lines drawn on bill to open Internet access
Hearings begin in Harrisburg on the controversial measure, which aims at cable firms'
high-speed networks.
Bell Atlantic appeals PUC order to divide Pa. operations _Illegal and anticompetitive, the utility said
of the ruling designed to foster full-scale competition. It sought a stay.
By Patricia Horn
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
HARRISBURG - Representatives of cable companies, telephone companies and Internet service
providers, along with communications professors and consumer advocates, crowded into Hearing
Room 140 of the State Capital yesterday to debate the future of Internet access for Pennsylvanians.
At issue was controversial House Bill 1516. Proposed by Rep. Ronald Raymond (R., Delaware),
the act would force cable companies to sell access to their high-speed Internet systems to any other
Internet service provider, at the same terms as they sell it to their affiliates.
Under the act, a Comcast cable customer who now can buy high-speed cable modem service only
from Comcast would be able to purchase it from any provider that can connect to Comcast's
network. It would be similar to the way local-phone companies, such as Bell Atlantic, sell access to
their phone networks to Internet service providers, who then sell it to consumers.
If the measure is enacted, Pennsylvania would be the first state to open the cable network to
independent providers.
The bill's supporters - largely Internet service providers, telephone companies, and some consumer
groups - say the act would mean more competition among high-speed Internet access providers,
less control over online content, and lower prices for consumers.
Detractors, mostly the cable industry, say the act would regulate the Internet, cause higher prices,
and slow the deployment of high-speed, high-capacity Internet services.
Among those testifying yesterday was Shawn McGorry, chief operating officer of Stargate
Industries, which serves about 60,000 dial-up Internet subscribers in Western Pennsylvania. He
said the Internet would not be what it is today if phone companies had not been forced to open
their networks to service providers. With cable companies building high-speed networks faster than
other industries, he said, access to those networks is critical to maintaining a competitive Internet.
The service providers, McGorry said, are not asking for a "free ride" - Stargate would pay cable
companies just as it now pays phone companies, a bill that totals around $300,000 each month.
But, said McGorry, larger cable companies such as AT&T have refused to sell access to their
networks to service providers, though smaller cable companies have been more willing.
That was not the view of David R. Breidinger, Comcast Cable Northeast Region vice president.
Cable companies do not have the only high-speed networks, he said. Phone companies, satellite
companies, utilities, and wireless cable companies are all selling or developing high-speed services.
"Cable represents just one of many high-speed choices for consumers," he said.
Breidinger also addressed one of the many political issues swirling around H.B. 1516, which pits
several of the nation's cable, telephone and online giants against each other.
"Many legislators have suggested to me that they understand this is only an issue between Bell
Atlantic and AT&T," he said. "This bill would hurt the ability of Comcast, a great Pennsylvania
company, to invest in our home state." |
