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Search Terms: telecommunications act of 1996

Document 273 of 784.

February 4, 2000, Friday

SECTION: OPINION;Pg. B-11:2,7; B-15:1

LENGTH: 479 words

HEADLINE: Communications choices expanding for San Diegans

BYLINE: Bill Geppert; Geppert is vice president and general manager of Cox Communications.

BODY:
Government intervention and additional regulation rarely promote innovation, investment and ultimately, more choices. The primary mission of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was to encourage private investment in advanced fiber optic networks and provide more choices for consumers in voice, video and data. It is clearly doing both. San Diego is an excellent example. During the last few years, we have seen more than a billion dollars of private investment in infrastructure. San Diego's fiber optic "wired region" has become the envy of the California, with super-fast connections to the Internet market-wide.

Ads daily offer consumers choices between cable modems vs. DSL technology for their computers (data). Full-page ads and TV commercials entice us with 200 channels of digital cable or satellite (video). Last year, Cox Communications began offering local residential phone service, giving customers a choice and significant savings on their telephone service (voice).

Competition on the video front continues to grow. FCC Chairman William Kennard, recently said "I am encouraged by the growth of competition to cable." Non-cable providers' market share is fast approaching 15 percent, with satellite growing 40 percent last year. That compares with only 3 percent competition in the local residential telephone market. Just this week another competitor announced its intentions to enter the San Diego market and provide voice, video and data. This would not have happened without the Telecommunications Act.

Pricing of video options has been a point of sensitivity in this debate. As programming has continued to improve, it also has become more expensive. This has driven prices up for the most expensive channels. Cox Communications has worked hard to keep our prices low. Last year, the programming costs we pay increased 14 percent, while our entry-level service went down in price and the standard cable package increased by only 4 percent. Cox customers enjoy wide choice at one of the lowest prices of any cable company in California and our prices compare favorably to satellite.

The Telecommunications Act has "enabled" the landscape of providers of voice, video and data to shift by encouraging private companies to invest. Innovations from these investments will continue. Cable will introduce, in the near future, Internet TV (providing everyone with the ability to use the Internet through their TV) and video on demand -- the real time streaming of a movie directly to your home from a library of choices allowing you to start and stop the movie at your convenience.

The shift to a much more competitive market is happening. A call for regulation misses the mark of the rapidly evolving digital age that is attracting enormous capital investment, bold innovation and emerging choices for consumers in San Diego.

LOAD-DATE: February 18, 2000

Document 273 of 784.


Search Terms: telecommunications act of 1996
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