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AT&T Fires Off FCC Letter Accusing Cable Operators of Thwarting Public DebateTMCnet Contributing Editor The competitive landscape in the telecommunications industry never lacks of excitement and this week is no different as the AT&T Giant is ruffling feathers with accusations of interference of public debate.
In a letter sent to the Federal Communications Commission, the company has accused cable operators of stifling the debate of nationwide video franchises by refusing to air advertisements that urge lawmakers to make it easier for phone companies to get into the television business. AT&T (News - Alert) went so far as to accuse said operators of trying to manipulate the political process and that this was a departure by the regulatory regime from basic norms of market competition and free and fair debate.
Verizon Communications also jumped on board by issuing a release on March 15 that accused the cable operators of refusing to run the ads because they don’t want consumers to know they have a choice.
Time Warner Cable wasted no time in responding when they pointed out that they were under no obligation to carry competitor’s advertisements. Comcast argued that its decision was based on the claims made by AT&T in the ads that were false and misleading.
In fact, the National Cable and Telecommunication Association (NCTA) issued a report earlier this month that slammed the phone companies for distorting the facts.
Telephone companies have been able to make significant headway in the strategic attempt to push through a federal law that would alleviate the need to negotiate separate contract agreements with local governments and grant phone companies the right to offer television service to millions of Americans.
Cable operators are vehemently opposing such legislation as they feel the phone companies should have to go through the same process they had to in order to gain local franchise agreements. AT&T argues that the current process is so slow that millions of US citizens are denied the choice of which company will provide their television service.
In this war between the phone companies and cable operators, the fight is on to sway federal legislation one way or another. It stands to reason that AT&T would be aggravated that they cannot get their ads run that state their position, as they do not yet have the licenses needed to offer television services. The cable operators are at an advantage.
However, in this free, capitalistic society, there is no requirement that one company must advertise for its competitor. These cable companies also have the right to refuse to run an ad that they feel is untrue. Additionally, ads that contain nothing more than commercial intent, as is said of the AT&T ads, do very little to interfere with public debate.
This report of disagreement between phone companies and cable operators is not the first as last week saw the brawl between Vonage Canada and Shaw Communications. While in this case, Vonage was asking for an investigation into a ‘hidden VoIP tax,’ the situation still resembles a cat fight over the customer dollar. Shaw was charging customers this service enhancement tax that could in fact prompt subscribers to switch to the carrier’s own VoIP offering.
As legislation is yet to be passed, it is likely that we will hear much more on this debate. And, while consumers should have a choice in their service offerings, that choice does not need to come at the detriment of another company’s rights or as a result of mudslinging.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMC and has also written for eastbiz.com. To see more of her articles, please visit Susan J. Campbell’s columnist page.
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