[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 112 (Friday, July 25, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             URGING FCC TO ADOPT NEUTRAL COMPETITION RULES

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SILVESTRE REYES

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 25, 2003

  Mr. REYES. Speaker, since the passage of the 1996 Telecommunications 
Act, the cable industry has invested more than $75 billion of private 
risk capital nationally, or about $1,000 per customer. These 
investments--including $45 million by Time Warner Cable in the 
Sixteenth District of Texas alone--have transformed cable's one-way 
video delivery system into a two-way interactive digtal platform that 
offers consumers new competitive services--digital video, high-speed 
Internet access, cable telephony, and interactive and high-definition 
television.
  Competition for residential high-speed Internet is here. Consumers 
today can choose among a variety of wireless and wire line providers. 
Cable's lead in the marketplace is due to its early investment in cable 
modem technology, aggressive marketing, generally lower prices and a 
consistently positive online experience for customers. I am proud that 
when Time Warner Cable launched Road Runner high-speed online service 
in El Paso in 1998, it was the first Road Runner launch in Texas, and 
the eighth in the nation. Time Warner provides free cable modems to the 
schools and libraries in its communities, as do many cable operators, 
ensuring that our young people benefit directly, even if they do not 
have access to computers at home. Cable is a proactive player in the 
effort to address the Digital Divide.
  Cable was the first industry to aggressively upgrade its networks to 
offer broadband Internet access to consumers at home, thereby creating 
the first real alternative to the much slower dial-up modem systems 
offered by local phone companies. Cable's rapid deployment of its 
always-on, high-speed Internet product spurred phone companies to offer 
competing DSL technology, a broadband data technology that was invented 
over a decade ago.
  Cable has taken an early lead in the investment and marketing of 
cable service, but there are a number of other providers in the 
broadband marketplace. Consumers today have access to an expanding 
choice of broadband providers, including wireless, satellite and 
alternative broadband suppliers.
  According to a March 2003 report in Cable Datacom News, the cable 
modem and DSL residential customer total reached approximately 16.7 
million in the U.S. at the end of 2002, out of an estimated 105 million 
who have access to broadband service. Of the 15 percent of residential 
customers currently purchasing wireline broadband service, 
approximately 67.4 percent are cable modem customers and 32.6 percent 
are DSL customers. Others purchase broadband service from providers of 
fixed wireless, satellite or other technologies. Every broadband 
provider has the same ability and opportunity to sell service to the 
remaining, large group of untapped potential customers and need not 
take a customer from another provider in order to gain one.
  I urge the FCC to adopt rules that ensure the existence of true, head 
to head facilities-based competition for all types of communications 
services, especially voice telephony and broadband.

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