[opendtv] Chairman Martin's address to NCTA in Las Vegas
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 May 2007 12:31:17 -0400
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-272897A1.pdf
Kevin Martin's views seem for the most part to be consistent.
He seems to favor some measure of "a la carte," but not to a very well
defined extent. Could be just more tiers, for example.
He also seems to favor multicast must carry, which surprised me
somewhat:
"By contrast, without multicasting, the United States is saying to
consumers, 'get a converter box or else your TV will go dark,' rather
than, 'get a converter box so you can get more free channels.' The
message in this country is not as appealing.
"Broadcasters said they could not sustain a business based on
advertiser-supported multicasted channels unless they knew the channels
would be carried on the cable and satellite systems. Your industry
opposed mandatory carriage, saying consumers should be able to pick and
choose the channels they want, not have programming forced upon them.
But if that is really your belief, then it should hold true whether we
are talking about broadcast channels or your own cable programming
channels. You can't have it both ways. Fundamentally, I agree that
consumer choice should be paramount. And if you advocate subjecting
broadcast channels to consumer choice then why shouldn't cable channels
be similarly subject to free market choices as well."
I'm not entirely clear on this paragraph, though:
"From my first days at the Commission, I have supported efforts to
refrain from regulating your broadband service. I agreed with the cable
industry that you should not be required to open your broadband network
to competitors at wholesale rates. I agree that the government should
also refrain from imposing taxes on broadband service and I support
exempting them from franchise fees. I agree with the cable industry that
your broadband services should not be subject to universal service fees
that would be used to subsidize your telephone company competitors."
That last sentence might not be consistent with his otherwise neutral
stance. Does it mean that VoIP customers don't pay to subsidize
telephone service? Or is cable broadband not meant to include VoIP?
I'm assuming the "universal service fees" he's talking about are fees
levied on the telco customers to help subsidize "lifeline" telephone
service. So VoIP customers, anyway, should certainly have to pay that
fee. *Perhaps* those who qualify for "lifeline" telephone service can't
afford cable, or VoIP from a cable company, so *perhaps* those revenues
extracted from cable customers go to subsidize the telcos. But hey,
telephone service is telephone service. Maybe cable systems should also
be required to provide "lifeline" telephone services, then, to keep the
complaints down.
Bert
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