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| UPDATED: 2006-06-09 |
 House Approves New Telecom Legislation 
By: David Utter 2006-06-09 The intense lobbying efforts by telecom and cable companies on Capitol Hill have paid off, as the House passed a bill that favored those industries.  Increased competition for cable should result from the passage of legislation in the House of Representatives. The Washington Post quoted Joe Barton (R-TX), who touted the passage of a bill that should make it easier for telecoms to enter new markets and offer high speed Internet services, particularly IPTV:
"This legislation can increase competition not only for cable services, but also unleash a race for who can supply the fastest, most sophisticated broadband connections that will provide video, voice and data services."
Barton chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and sponsored the legislation the House passed. Telecom companies like AT&T (T), which plans to increase capacity on its Internet backbone to support IPTV, had wanted to enter the market for streaming video but complained that existing laws made that a difficult prospect. Concerns persist that the legislation could encourage a two-tiered Internet, as the New York Times reported in its coverage: In a concession to the telephone and cable companies, the legislation does nothing to prevent the phone and cable providers from charging Internet content providers a premium for carrying services like video offerings that could rival those of the telecom companies.
A "Net neutrality" amendment to the Barton bill would have banned the potential for Internet providers charging a higher fee to content providers that offered competing video products. That bill, sponsored by Edward Markey (D-MA), failed by a 269 to 152 vote. Ideally, the Barton bill would increase the competition the cable industry has long avoided with monopolies in municipalities across the country. Cheaper access to faster connections offers some promise to website publishers, too. Broadband connectivity tends to encourage heavier usage of the Internet, and increases the likelihood a person will spend more money online. A fast connection can deliver rich media advertising effectively, and despite protestations by Google (GOOG), driving down high-speed connection prices could spur interest in advertisers purchasing video ads. The Senate will soon vote on a similar bill to the one that passed the House. After that, if enough time remains in Congress' current legislative session, a final bill will have to be crafted by both the House and the Senate. Even though the Barton bill passed, it could end up looking a lot different than it does today. --- Tag: Net neutrality Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Yahoo! My Web |  Furl
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View All Articles by David Utter About the Author: David Utter is a staff writer for InternetFinancialNews and WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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