Federal Communications Commission chairman William Kennard has refused to say no to the cable companies' monopolistic ambitions, arguing that it would be perverse to start imposing regulations when broadband is still in its infancy. With the FCC aiding and abetting the cable monopolists, the only hope for consumers is that other broadband options will become available. The most promising is known as digital subscriber line, or DSL, a high-speed service available over ordinary phone lines. Peter Lewis, the New York Times ' technology reporter, recently tested both cable and DSL broadband, and pronounced DSL to be superior. What's pushing the spread of DSL more than anything is competition from cable broadband.
Cable is here now.
DSL is just beginning to be rolled out, and it has significant drawbacks, especially a technical limitation that requires any hook-up to be within three miles of a central switching station. It would be nice to see the cable industry's broadband dreams done in by their own obsolescence, and perhaps that's exactly what will happen. But it would set a dangerous precedent to let the cable industry piss all over the Internet today just because cable might one day fade away. For another, theories about DSL's eventual triumph aside, cable is likely to be with us for some time to come. Theirs is one of a number of similar cases around the country.