This was another great event sponsored by Silicon Flatirons but there was really nothing new said that has not been already written. The cable companies politely object to a potential change in regulation while supporting the National Broadband Plan. Many panelists tossed around the statement that there is 95% broadband penetration in the U.S. which is a number that is highly suspect. I am more inclined to trust the OECD numbers more.
LONE TREE, Colo. — Some at the top level of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may believe a new legal framework for its authority over broadband services will help keep its ambitious National Broadband Plan afloat, but some cable industry policy pundits wonder if the move might produce the opposite effect.
The FCC’s reclassification effort could “totally sidetrack [the Commission] from getting some pieces of the broadband plan done,” warned Steve Morris, VP and associate general counsel of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) , a speaker Thursday afternoon here at a “Future of Cable” conference hosted by the Colorado Cable Telecommunications Association and Silicon Flatirons, a law and tech center based at the University of Colorado. (See NCTA Reacts to FCC NOI.)
Those comments came mere hours after the FCC, in a 3-2 vote, opened a formal notice of inquiry (NOI) as the Commission looks to reestablish its authority over broadband rules and policies. The FCC is asking for options, but it’s already outlined three initial possibilities: to retain broadband’s current Title I classification as an information service; go for Title II (telecommunications) status; or try a “Third Way” that takes a Title II posture but doesn’t necessarily enforce every aspect of that much stronger classification. (See FCC Looks to Reclaim Its Broadband Mojo .)
