Abstract
Even to the casual observer, it is clear that the broadband revolution is at hand. High-speed Internet access is commonplace in the workplace and many homes have high-speed Internet access through cable modems or Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).1 Handheld wireless devices, including cell phones, now support limited e-mail and web access. Nevertheless, the revolution has not been instantaneous: consumers cannot simply write a check for the bandwidth they desire, but are dependent on the infrastructures put in place by the service providers in their area. In some instances they are able to choose between high-speed cable modem access offered by a cable operator, and wireline or wireless DSL services offered by an incumbent or entrant telephone company. In other cases they may be offered one service but not the other. In some areas, the only practical means of connecting to the Internet is through a dial-up modem2.
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As of June 2000, approximately 2.3 million cable modems were deployed in the United States. Kinetic Strategies, Inc., Cable Modem Market Stats and Projections, Cable Datacom News, Aug. 16, 2000, available at: <http://cabledatacomnews.com/cmic/cmicl6.html>. The U.S. has a total of 78 million cable subscribers according to Cahner-in-Stats. The number of DSL subscribers at year end of 1999 was 0.54 million, and is expected to be 1.84 million by year end 2000. Brian Gilman, Why Isn’t High-Speed Here Yet? Part 2: DSL, E-marketer, May 15, 2000, available at: <http://www.emarketer.com/enews/051500_dsl.html> Data on overall telephone subscriber population is from Statistical Abstracts of the United States (U.S. Department of Commerce, Oct. 1999). Hughes Direct offers satellite access nationwide at 400 kbs downstream, but requires a telephone return path using a standard modem.
As of June 2000, approximately 44% of U.S. cable subscribers had access to cable modem service. Kinetic Strategies, Inc., Cable Modem Market Stats and Projections, Cable Datacom News, Aug. 16, 2000, available at: <http://cabledatacomnews.com/cmic/cmicl6.html>. Thirty one million subscribers, approximately 30% of the telephone subscriber population, are projected to have access to DSL by end of year 2000. Brian Gilman, Why Isn’t High-Speed Here Yet? Part 2: DSL, e-Marketer, May 15, 2000, available at: <http://www.emarketer.com/enews/051500_dsl.html>. See also the FCC’s second report on the availability of High-Speed and advanced telecommunications services “Second Section 706 Report,” available at: <http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Orders/2000/fcc00290.pdf>.
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As the FCC put it recently: “Service providers are deploying a variety of networks that rely on different network architectures and transmission paths, including copper wire, cable, terrestrial wireless radio spectrum, satellite radio spectrum, or a combination of these and other media, to provide high-speed services. In the coming years, analysts predict rapid growth in subscribership of high-speed services provided using each of these technologies.” Inquiry Concerning High-Speed Access to the Internet Over Cable and Other Facilities, GN Docket No. 00-185, FCC 00-355, released Sept. 28, 2000, at paras. 6 and 7.
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Eldering, C.A. (2001). Technology and Competition: A Five-Year Outlook for The Telecommunications Marketplace. In: Eisenach, J.A., May, R.J. (eds) Communications Deregulation and FCC Reform: Finishing the Job. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1521-0_3
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