Cable seeks "targeted" rewrite of Telecom Act

Aspects of the 1996 Telecom Act may need to be revisited, but the cable industry wants lawmakers to resist the temptation to embark on a wholesale rewrite of the landmark legislation, according to Robert Sachs, president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA).

Cable operators have invested more than $95 billion since the passage of the Telecom Act, largely because of the deregulatory stability the law provided MSOs investing in broadband infrastructures, Sachs said during a press conference yesterday. A commitment to a "comprehensive rewrite" could create an environment that could dampen investors’ enthusiasm for cable, he said.

"We would favor a targeted approach," Sachs said. "To simply open up every title of the act creates a cloud of uncertainty."

A key component of the federal government’s policy toward the cable industry is the FCC’s determination that cable-modem offerings are unregulated information services. That finding will be considered next year by the Supreme Court in the Brand X case, in which the high court will determine whether an appeals court was correct in deciding that cable modems include a telecommunications component.

If the Supreme Court upholds the appeals-court ruling, Sachs said the NCTA is hopeful the FCC will forebear from applying the most stringent telecom regulations to cable-modem providers.

On the other hand, the cable industry believes it has alternatives if the FCC rules cable providers are required to carry all multicast channels offered by local broadcasters. Sachs said he believes it would "take an act of Congress to require multicasting" but questioned whether such a law would pass judicial scrutiny. MSOs have opposed efforts by broadcasters to have policymakers require multicasting.

"It’s not that we don’t have an interest in carrying multicast programming…we just don’t think there should be a requirement from the government to carry a half-dozen channels," Sachs said. "If they have attractive programming, someone should want to carry that."

In other policy matters, Sachs said he expects the U.S. House of Representatives to focus on legislation to clear broadcasters from 700 MHz spectrum currently used to transmit analog channels. Sachs also said he believes lawmakers will reintroduce legislation to ensure that voice over IP is free from economic regulation.