MCI WORLDCOM URGES STATES TO TAKE A LOOK AT OPEN CABLE
ACCESS
Analysis Reveals State Commissions May Have Jurisdiction
Over Broadband Cable
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San Francisco, CA, July 20, 1999 - In a presentation at the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) summer
conference later today, MCI WorldCom Chief Policy Counsel Jonathan Sallet
will call upon state public utility commissions to look hard at the issue
of open cable network access. He will discuss the manner in which states
may exercise authority to prevent the creation of digital cable monopolies
pursuant to applicable state laws.
Section 706 of the Act clearly recognizes the states' role in ensuring
deployment of "advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans."
Advanced services like high-speed Internet access are defined without
regard to transmission facilities. Congress plainly foresaw that cable
companies may choose to provide telecommunications services. Thus, states
ought to consider their authority to address broadband access to last-mile
facilities.
In June, the City of Portland mandated competitive access to cable
connections as part of the AT&T-TCI cable franchise transfer which a
federal district court recently upheld. Similarly, Broward County, Fla.,
voted to force local cable companies to open up their lines to Internet
companies on July 13. The issue is ongoing in many cities including San
Francisco where a vote on open access will take place on July 26, followed
by Miami-Dade County on July 27.
But, said Sallet, "To date, there has been little attention paid to the
opportunities that state public utility commissions can employ to ensure
that Internet access remains open." Sallet also noted that MCI WorldCom
has explained that it will provide access to its two-way wireless cable
network.
Cable modems provide high-speed, two-way telecommunications for
Internet services. Many state telecommunications laws indicate that
provision of two-way communications constitutes a "telecommunications
service." Prior state regulatory activity in New York, Florida and
California has already indicated that two-way cable service can be
regulated as a telecommunications service and Illinois has begun to lay a
framework in the same direction.
Additionally, some states have jurisdiction over telecom-cable mergers.
In most states, the authority to license companies to provide
telecommunications gives states the right to review its transfer. And if
broadband cable is a medium for telecommunications, the transfer of these
systems would be covered.
"The impact of closed cable access on consumers is serious," Sallet
continues. "Cable company monopolies will limit choice, price, service and
innovation. History shows us that monopolies are bad for consumers."
MCI WorldCom is a global leader in communications services with 1998
revenues of more than $30 billion and established operations in over 65
countries encompassing the Americas, Europe and the Asia-Pacific regions.
MCI WorldCom is a premier provider of facilities-based and fully
integrated local, long distance, international and Internet services. MCI
WorldCom's global networks, including its state-of-the-art pan-European
network and transoceanic cable systems, provide end-to-end high-capacity
connectivity to more than 40,000 buildings worldwide. MCI WorldCom is
traded on NASDAQ under WCOM. For more information on MCI WorldCom, visit
the World Wide Web at http://www.wcom.com.
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