How this ends up will determine the extent of WGAT's landscape:
Internet Firms Urge FCC To Ensure Cable Access
MCI WorldCom: Make Access Requirement of AT&T-MediaOne Merger
By Aaron Pressman
Reuters
WASHINGTON (May 24) - America Online, MCI WorldCom Inc. and other Internet companies again urged federal authorities to bar cable operators from striking exclusive deals on new high-speed Internet service offerings, participants in closed-door talks said Monday.
Internet providers want to be sure that consumers will enjoy the same open access to their services via cable networks that they now have over phone lines, and not have to ''pay twice'' the way some cable operators want them to.
Federal Communications Commission staff heard detailed pitches from the Internet companies along with responses from cable operators, who oppose any new regulations.
The meeting was to continue on Tuesday as part of an ''informal, educational'' session on the convergence of the cable and Internet industries, attendees said.
The FCC has twice turned aside Internet companies' pleas on cable Internet services, but AT&T Corp.'s planned acquisition of MediaOne Group Inc., the long distance giant's second major cable purchase, has renewed the interest of regulators and lawmakers in Congress as well.
Under current law and FCC rules, phone companies offering high or low speed Internet access must offer customers a choice of Internet service providers -- companies that provide features like e-mail and Web page hosting.
But the same rules do not apply to cable operators. AT&T, for example, requires customers of high-speed cable Internet access to purchase the services of AtHome Corp. , a cable-owned provider controlled by AT&T, for a single price.
Cable Internet customers may also reach AOL or other providers, but still must pay for the cable operator's provider.
Internet companies argue that by, in effect, forcing customers to pay twice to reach them, the cable companies are stifling competition and could potentially exercise undue control over Internet content.
MCI WorldCom chief policy counsel Jonathan Sallet said the FCC ought to make open access to cable Internet service a prerequisite to approving AT&T's merger with MediaOne.
''We believe open access to the nation's cable systems will guarantee that consumers can use the Internet any way they choose,'' Sallet said.
Cable companies say the FCC has no authority to interfere, and that the exclusive deals are needed to pay for the expensive upgrades necessary to allow Internet service to be offered over cable wires.
AT&T spokesman Jim McGann said MCI and others ''happen to be wrong.'' McGann said AT&T was acquiring cable companies primarily to compete in the local telephone market against the regional Bell companies.
On the open access issue, McGann said: ''The FCC has looked at it. They said they will monitor it and that's the appropriate role for the government at this point.''
Last week, FCC chairman William Kennard asserted that his agency had authority to require cable operators to change their practices. But Kennard said he had not heard a good suggestion for how open access rules could be crafted without creating excessive regulation.
In addition to MCI, AT&T and AOL, other companies expected to speak at the two-day meeting included Cox Communications Inc., Bell Atlantic Corp. and the Commercial Internet Exchange.
FCC officials attending included top staff from the agency's cable and common carrier bureaus.
FCC officials had little comment Monday on the meetings but said a statement might be issued on Tuesday.
18:43 05-24-99
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