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To: Uncle Frank who wrote (50764)	3/17/2002 7:05:38 PM
From: Eric L	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

UF. re: TheMightyLakers << it's obvious you are a top level gearhead. >> He is getting better every day. His cellular history is a little weak, however. <g> It has kind of a San Diego twist. <ggg> - Eric -

To: Uncle Frank who wrote (50764)	3/17/2002 10:17:51 PM
From: FR1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

UF, do you think the recent decision by FCC will help baby bells up their capex on broadband spending? I thought I remembered them a saying that if the FCC would just act in their favor they could justify a lot more expenditure. story.news.yahoo.com FCC Declines To Hobble Cable Broadband Fri Mar 15,12:30 PM ET Michael Powell has made it clear that he favors minimal regulation, so it was no surprise when the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites), which he chairs, yesterday decided against requiring cable TV firms to open their broadband networks to rival Internet service providers. Nor was it a surprise when consumer advocates complained about the decision, which they saw as flashing a green light for giants such as AOL Time Warner (NYSE:AOL - news) to utterly dominate cable broadband. It was equally predictable that AOL rival EarthLink (NasdaqNM:ELNK - news) would issue a statement denouncing the FCC (news - web sites) decision, and that EarthLink's shares would fall on the news in yesterday's trading. But EarthLink shares recovered that lost ground this morning, when investors decided on second thought that the FCC's decision is not necessarily such bad news for the independent ISPs. Only a few days ago, EarthLink was basking in the glow of the deal it struck to offer its broadband services over AT&T Broadband 's cable lines. AT&T (NYSE:T - news) is selling its cable unit to Comcast (NasdaqNM:CMCSK - news) , which two weeks ago agreed to allow another independent ISP, United Online (NasdaqNM:UNTD - news) , to offer broadband service over Comcast's cable lines. That hardly sounds like an industry that is intent upon barring independent ISPs from its networks. Yet Atlanta-based EarthLink reacted quite negatively to the FCC decision, which it characterized as "bad law and bad policy." The FCC has decided to treat cable-based broadband service as an information service rather than a telecommunications service. The latter generally is subject to a higher degree of government regulation. "Classifying cable-modem service as an information service will promote our goal of fostering a minimal regulatory environment that promotes investment and permits innovation in this competitive market," said FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, as quoted by Reuters. EarthLink's Dave Baker begs to differ. "The FCC fails to make the fundamental distinction between how you treat regulated networks like cable systems and unregulated information services like broadband Internet access that travel over those networks," the firm's vice president for law and public policy said in a statement. "We share the FCC's desire to encourage broadband deployment...The challenge is not just providing more broadband connections, but giving consumers meaningful choices in their broadband providers over those connections." If it turns out that Baker is right that unregulated cable companies will offer fewer broadband ISP choices, then the FCC may have to revisit this issue. But not every independent ISP was up in arms over this week's news. "Reclassifying broadband as an information service is the correction decision," said David McClure of the U.S. Internet Industry Association, as quoted by the Los Angeles Times. McClure's group represents 300 ISPs, and he sees opportunity for them in the wake of the FCC's decision. "Granted, we have seen a move by some cable companies to shield their network from competition," he told the Times. "But they can't deploy broadband quick enough all by themselves. They are going to need to fill their networks with other Internet service providers." Prominent among the ISPs likely to benefit would be EarthLink itself, which may explain why its stock was up almost 6% in morning trading. Investors apparently decided that the positive implications of EarthLink's AT&T Broadband deal outweigh any negative vibrations from the FCC decision.