CABLE, INTERNET MERGERS THREATEN CONSUMER CHOICE.

Byline: Richard Alarcon

IN the past few years, business, consumers and educators have come to rely heavily on the Internet.

Executives can find out what business competitors are doing, students can research school projects and fans can get the latest gossip on their favorite celebrities.

However, many experts believe that, that despite continued technological advances in digital communications over telephone lines, cable will be the primary medium in the future by which consumers will receive their information and entertainment, due to cable's ability to provide larger and faster streams of voice, video and data.

A cable modem is much the same as a telephone modem and the systems function similarly. But as this new medium moves forward, there are pressing issues now facing us that could cost consumers in the future.

During the past few years, there have been a series of corporate buyouts that have consolidated ownership of the nation's largest cable companies. On top of this, there have been several major mergers between cable and telephone companies such as the mergers of AT&T and Telecommunications Inc., the second-largest cable company in the country. In addition, AT&T has also announced plans to merge with MediaOne, the fourth-largest cable company in the country. These and other business deals have given AT&T significant ownership of the two companies that already deliver broadband communications (high-speed, Internet-ready data links) to consumers over cable lines.

These mergers have brought to light the problem of marrying cable with phone lines and the possibility of companies limiting Internet access via cable lines to consumers in the future. Currently, consumers can choose from thousands of Internet Service Providers as a way of accessing the World Wide Web over telephone lines, such as AOL, Netcom and Earthlink. However, many of the telephone companies, including AT&T, Pacific Bell and GTE also have ISPs. The question is, if a company has control over the cable lines, will customers be forced to use that company's ISP?

Consumers must retain their rights in choosing how they access the Internet. While there will always be mergers and acquisitions in the corporate world, we cannot afford to let any one company be the exclusive provider of Internet information or be in the position where it can control how people access the Internet.

Not only would this limit Internet access choice, but as we all know, a healthy, competitive marketplace is what drives prices down. Without competition, Internet providers would not be forced to keep access affordable to everyone. Places such as libraries and schools, which constantly face monetary restraints, could be locked out of the future and deny our children important tools they will need to compete in the business world.

Last December, the Los Angeles City Council ordered a staff report on the $55 million purchase of TCI by AT&T. I expressed concern about the direct Internet access issue. While I was happy that high-speed Internet access was coming to the area, it would arrive on the terms of one company's choosing and could limit the Internet service provider choices available to us. The city has yet to determine how it will deal with this.

This situation is not unique to Los Angeles. Dallas, Denver, Oakland, Miami, San Francisco, and other cities around the nation are facing the same questions. In Portland, Ore., a U.S. District Judge recently upheld a decision by the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission, which voted overwhelmingly that the merger between AT&T and TCI could not go forward until AT&T provided nondiscriminatory access to its cable network to other competitors, the same kind of access now required of local telephone companies.

It is too early to tell whether this ruling will set a precedent for the rest of the country. Hopefully, it will make the phone and cable companies realize that consumers want and should have their choice of Internet service providers. Meanwhile, I have asked Sen. Debra Bowen, chairwoman of the state Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications, to hold an informational hearing on the issue, which will be held today.

The Internet is about choice. Consumers should have as many options as possible when it comes to accessing the Internet and exploring the world of choice it offers.