The Supremes Sing Out – Cable Companies Don’t Need to Share Lines — ruling may boost systems like UTOPIA

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that cable companies may keep rival Internet providers from using their lines, a decision that will limit competition and consumers’ choices.

The 6-3 decision is a victory for the Bush administration, which sought exclusive control to promote broadband investment from deep-pocketed cable companies.

Judges should defer to the expertise of the Federal Communications Commission, which concluded that limited access is best for the industry, the high court said in an opinion by Justice Clarence Thomas.

More than 19 million homes have cable broadband service. At issue is whether cable Internet access is a "telecommunications service" under federal law that makes it subject to strict FCC rules requiring companies to provide access to independent providers.

By HOPE YEN
The Associated Press

Full Story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700415.html?referrer=email

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ISP ruling may boost systems like UTOPIA

By Steven Oberbeck
The Salt Lake Tribune

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday told Comcast Corp. it can keep rival Internet service providers (ISPs) off its cable network – a decision that may help boost the prospects of Utah’s municipally-owned fiber-optic network now under construction.

The nation’s big cable and phone companies hailed the decision as a boon for competition.

It gives the cable companies an incentive to invest in bringing new technologies to the marketplace for the benefit of their customers, said Kyle McSlarrow, president of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the cable-TV industry’s leading trade group, in a teleconference.

Some consumer advocates and telecommunication industry analysts, though, argue Monday’s ruling could drive ISPs, such as Xmission and EarthLink, into serving their customers over alternative networks such as the municipally supported UTOPIA system – short for the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency.

"The decision certainly means the options open to ISPs are more limited," said Paul Glenchur, a telecom analyst with Stanford Washington Research Group. "They either won’t get access [from cable operators] or, if they get it, it will be at a higher price than they’re willing to pay."

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2828200