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		 Subject: Telecom Services: Broadband Services: CWA Urges FCC to Set 'Open 
Access' Broadband Policy


CWA Urges FCC to Set 'Open Access' Broadband Policy 
  
12/01/2000 
PR Newswire 
(Copyright (c) 2000, PR Newswire) 
WASHINGTON, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The Communications Workers of America told 
the Federal Communications Commission that an "open access" broadband cable 
policy is the best way to stimulate competition and promote the growth of 
jobs and the industry. 
Such a national policy framework is necessary, CWA said in its filing to the 
FCC, to ensure that fair competition, innovation and growth continue as 
broadband networks further advance. 
CWA called on the FCC to establish a national policy that would treat all 
providers of broadband Internet access as common carriers, and therefore 
subject to the interconnection, non-discrimination and unbundling 
requirements of federal communications law. 
CWA pointed out that a strong legal basis already exists for considering 
cable modem service a "telecommunications service" and therefore subject to 
the obligations of common carriers. This policy would not necessarily lead to 
regulatory oversight of the wholesale pricing of cable modem service, but it 
would remedy the current situation whereby the same service, broadband 
Internet access, is regulated differently depending on whether access is 
provided over cable or telephone lines, CWA stressed. This current disparate 
treatment "serves to favor one technology over another in the marketplace, 
which runs counter to the mandates of the Telecommunications Act," the union 
added. 
Open access cable also would provide real benefits to consumers, by giving 
consumers access to new and diverse sources of information, products and 
services. This will only result in greater consumer demand for broadband 
transport services, fueling both network investment and job growth, CWA noted.
"The open architecture of the Internet has fostered an explosion in 
democratic communications," an achievement the Commission must preserve "as 
we transition to the ever-widening possibilities of broadband," the union 
stressed. However, "this openness is threatened by a closed cable Internet 
access network which would give preferable treatment to affiliated Internet 
service providers of cable operators," CWA cautioned. 
The FCC should act quickly to establish rules that will protect an open 
Internet, not rely on market forces and vague voluntary agreements by cable 
providers to open access at some future date, CWA said. 

/CONTACT: Jeff Miller or Candice Johnson, of CWA Communications, 
202-434-1168/ 16:15 EST 

Folder Name: Telecom Services: Broadband Services 
Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 90

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