But where have the Cable companies been?
With broader deployment of DOCSIS 3.0, the goal of 100Mbps to 100M households by 2020 could be easily in reach. While it is more common to think that 100M = Fiber, if we are willing to accept the shared bandwidth of DOCSIS, customers are seeing rates of 100Mbps today. And given ten years to innovate, it is likely CableLabs could kick up that bandwidth significantly over the next ten years.
What is more interesting to me however is where Cable companies stand in the move to reclassify internet service as a telecommunications service. If this change occurs, what happens to digital cable? Clearly Cable Modems should fall under this new regulation, but what about the content that is delivered? How is digital TV program different than IPTV? How would reclassification change the fees associated with content and TV services? If it is a service delivered digitally, why could a Cox subscriber today not choose instead to subscribe to Comcast service? Or vice versa?
Other than IPTV and FIOS in select markets, there is no competition in cable. Andy Kessler, in an opinion piece in last week's Wall Street Journal states that according to SmartMoney.com, less than 1% of 30,000 cable markets had more than one provider in 2000 and 2005. It is not a whole lot better today.
Kessler speculates that the threat of opening up cable networks for competition and establishing low common carrier wholesale pricing, would spur the industry's broad endorsement of building fiber to every household.
Nearly half of US consumers, and a growing number of businesses get their internet service from cable. Isn't it time everyone worked under the same regulation? So why has Cable been so quiet?
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