Cable Keeps Quiet On Two-Tiered Internet

from the pay-and-pay-again dept

While telcos continue to say that Internet content providers should have to pay for using their pipes to deliver content to individual customers, the country's other major broadband providers -- cable TV companies are keeping quiet. Cable companies and telcos have been slinging mud at each other for some time, so it's unsurprising to see the cablecos let their rivals take some heat for their unpopular stance, even though some of them have reportedly tried to "price block" VoIP services in the past. Letting the telcos take the heat probably isn't just the smarter PR move, it's smarter politically as well. If the cable companies presented a united front on the issue, it might be enough to make the FCC realize that there's very little effective broadband competition and spur it into action.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Mousky, 16 Jan 2006 @ 10:30am

    Double Dip

    "While telcos continue to say that Internet content providers should have to pay for using their pipes to deliver content to individual customers"

    Funny, I thought that the monthly amount that is withdrawn from my bank account pays for the use of their pipes to deliver the content that I request?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Orn, 16 Jan 2006 @ 10:35am

      Re: Double Dip

      when you look at the difference between the cable and phone industry it is farily easy to see that the telco is part of public infostructure where as the cable is basically just a luxury item. VOIP has not the same basic failsafes built into it that telcos have built in. Cable is very new relatively speaking and has not quite as much pull as the 800 pound ape Att and T represents...

      funny that the broke that company up just so 20 years latter, they are back...

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 16 Jan 2006 @ 1:48pm

    No Subject Given

    There are two bonuses to Cable keeping quiet. One, the teleco's take the heat for an unpopular position. Two, if it all goes well for the teleco's than Cable has the option of putting in teirs as well. Then if anyone complains they can say they need it to remain competitive with the teleco's. If the teleco's get away with it, Cable can do it too and blame the teleco's. This way Cable comes out of this looking good no matter how it turns out.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Renegade Rivers, 17 Jan 2006 @ 8:13am

    Telcos do Cable.

    Here in the midwest where I live the telco, which is a Coop, owns the internet, the telephone, and the cable, running it all through one pipe, which is state of the art fiber optics. Of course, they take all the praise, and as well as all of the heat. It's actually an unbelievable system. I get 96 network and movie channels, 45 music channels, internet at T1 speed - 1550kbps, and my phone service to include long distance, with all of the bells and whistles of voice mail, call forwarding, caller ID, and call waiting. With all of this, I get dividends of $500+ a year. Which is payable 10 years hence. My check last year was $543, and my dividends for 2005, was over $800. Oh yes, and at Christmas time each year, I get a check for $50.00 to help with Christmas. Its a very good system, that doesn't have to worry much about the cable-telco dispute.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Wow, 7 Feb 2006 @ 8:05pm

      Re: Telcos do Cable.

      That's amazing. Where do you live? Does San Francisco know about this, because they are desperately searching for a model.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.