FCC takes charge of access battle

If you want cable access rules, come to the FCC. That's the gist of a brief filed by the commission last week in an appeal of the Portland, Ore., requirement that AT&T open its cable to competing ISPs.

The FCC brief restated Chairman William Kennard's argument that the commission has pre-eminent authority to regulate ISPs as "the only agency with jurisdiction over all the current providers of broadband technology." The FCC will leave the cable Internet industry unregulated for now.

The brief also noted the problematic status of cable Internet, which will determine whether multiple systems operators (MSOs) offering Internet service are covered by the Cable Communications Act of 1984 or the Telecom Act of 1996.

Meanwhile, three consumer groups asked the Department of Justice to reject AT&T's proposed purchase of MediaOne as contrary to antitrust laws. The groups - Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America and the Media Access Project - also petitioned the FCC to deny the merger because it violates the FCC's voluntarily suspended "horizontal ownership" provisions limiting how many subscribers may be served by a single MSO. "This merger will result in inflated cable and broadband Internet prices for consumers and thwart the development of vibrant competition in these markets," the three groups said in a letter accompanying the DOJ filing.