October 2010

Speaking at the annual Rainbow PUSH Coalition Telecommunications Symposium in Washington (DC), Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski stressed the importance of broadband to the economic recovery.

"Broadband is indispensable infrastructure for our 21st century economy," he said, noting its crucial role in economic growth and job creation, healthcare, energy and education. The National Broadband Plan, he said, addresses both broadband deployment and adoption. "The digital divide is seriously troubling; more troubling now than in the past, because the costs of digital exclusion are rising. Closing this divide is one of the most important civil rights issues of our time."

[Commentary] There's only one permanent solution to retransmission consent problems: a la carte television.

"A la carte TV" generally refers to the ability for customers to decide what individuals channels they want to subscriber to, rather than having to pay for a package of channels determined by their cable provider. Though far from a new idea, it's most often talked about in terms of how its potential for maximizing consumer value in terms of what they get for what they pay. But I want to point out today how valuable a la carte TV could be for ridding us of these silly disagreements between content providers and cable operators. It boils down to the simple fact that the current paradigm of TV doesn't allow for true market dynamics to work their magic on keeping value high for consumers.

So if the Federal Communications Commission really wants to resolve this situation, let's not take the easy way out and just try to fix the symptom. It's time we acknowledge that what's best for consumers is trying to cure the disease of a broken marketplace that's divorced from demand and driven too much by supply.

Americans, little by little, are cutting the proverbial cord on cable television. But that doesn't mean they're breaking up with their cable companies.

In addition to controlling most of the paid TV market in the U.S., cable companies are also poised to dominate the broadband market. This means that even when people drop their pricey cable TV packages, they're still likely to pay the cable company for access to the Internet, which is used to deliver the video streams to their TVs. For cable operators, it's a "heads we win; tails we win" situation.

Neil Smit, president of Comcast's cable division, said, "If over-the-top comes into being, there is more consumption of online video. We feel very good about our capacity. That is one of the reasons we have invested so heavily in DOCSIS 3 (the cable technology that allows operators to provide download broadband speeds up to 160Mbps). We feel that that big pipe into the house is important and we will continue to invest in speed increases like that, like DOCSIS 3. We think it's an important component and the consumers continue to consume more bandwidth."

So what does that mean for average consumers? For those of us left behind with traditional cable services, it could well mean that the cable companies increase fees in order to pay for the contracts they have with content producers like the TV networks. For those who do leave cable TV, there's a very good chance they're paying the same provider for a different service -- broadband access.

[Commentary] As we grow increasingly dependent on the Internet for everything from soup to nuts: employment and educational opportunities, staying in touch with friends and family, and accessing critical news and information, the question of how this essential network operates has never been more important.

Does it work in the interests of the people who rely on it? Or does it work more and more in the interests of the large telecom companies who deploy the wires and deliver the bits and bytes? Broadband for the People, a campaign of the Media Action Grassroots Network, a nationwide coalition of community organizations working together for media change, calls for the full adoption, affordability, and openness of broadband networks. Without these 3 central principals underpinning our communication system, the tremendous power the Internet holds for creativity, economic expansion, civil rights and civic engagement will never be recognized. And the social divides that rack this country with poverty, racism and limited opportunity for many, will carry over, unchanged, into the digital realm - "the digital divide". We didn't get anywhere as a country by vowing to electrify 2/3 of our homes and leave the other 1/3 in the dark. And similarly, we can't settle for anything short of full adoption, full affordability and full openness.

It's a big challenge to get from here to there. Here are some ways we can begin: 1) Shares Resources, 2) Institutionalize Digital Literacy, 3) Fight for Internet Openness and Affordability Like We Mean It.

[Rosenberg is Executive Director of the Media Alliance.]