There is a consensus amongst us on the objectives. The government has issued its broad policy directive, which is based on the premise that technological innovation is an essential, a driving motor for economic expansion and job creation. For its part, the industry has continued to evolve in its thinking toward the emerging multimedia marketplace. We have seen both the cable and telephone industries indicate basic changes in their approach to the market - mostly technology and consumer driven. We have the telcos now changing their investment strategies in local broadband facilities due to the speed of development of methods of exploiting copper plant.
Huge savings are available here.
And we have the cable companies introducing high speed Internet access, while refining their strategy for the basic telephone market. The regulation of cable and telephone, because of the nature of their technologies and infrastructure, pose unique policy challenges. Moreover, the presence of new players in markets from which they've been hitherto excluded may well influence and perhaps radically transform the services and contents offered to consumers. It is essential that the rules of the game be framed in the much broader context of new technologies. The Commission must adapt to this new environment, in which the industries it regulates, or exempts from regulation, evolve.