It s also not surprising that some smaller ISP s, including those who do not provide any content, would sign-onto AOL s and the telcos OpenNet campaign. Think about it. That, in a nutshell, is what AOL and cable s other ISP competitors are asking cities to do. And, as the FCC has found, there are a large number of actual participants and potential entrants in this market with no single competitor able to dominate access to the home. Indeed, with new high speed investment announcements every week, it is clear that competition and consumer choice are increasing, not decreasing.
Internet access is a highly competitive market.
As you deliberate about this issue, I hope you will ask yourselves whether broadband deployment, including more reliable cable service, digital video programming, a local telephone alternative and high speed Internet is more likely to result from competition among cable and other broadband infrastructure providers, or from cumbersome government regulation. I would also urge you to consider who is driving the forced access campaign and whether their commercial ambitions are in the best interest of consumers in your communities. I am proud to say that the cable industry has been a leader in broadband deployment in this country. For its part, AOL made a business decision several years ago to sell-off broadband facilities and concentrate instead on becoming the dominant provider of content on the Internet. Now that these companies are faced with competition, they want government to tip the competitive scales in their favor.