Connecticut cable providers pondered their next move Friday after a decision by regulators opened the door to telco-supplied Internet Protocol Television.
The state Department of Public Utility Control decided Wednesday that Internet Protocol Television is just another data stream and therefore AT&T was not bound by same franchise regulations that apply to cable operators.
The ruling contends that cable video and IPTV were different technologies and therefore not subject to the same rules.
Telecom observers saw the ruling as a major step toward direct competition between heavyweight telcos and cable operators similar to the rivalry over broadband Internet access.
The New England Cable and Telecommunications Association immediately announced it would take the dispute to state or federal court as early as next week. The Hartford Courant said Friday that state officials planned to seek a reconsideration of the ruling.
AT&T said it hoped to offer its Lightspeed television service later this year and expand it to half of Connecticut within here years.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
Related stories:
WTO to rule on US dispute with EU on hi-tech products: sources
The World Trade Organisation agreed to rule on a challenge brought by the United States, Japan and Taiwan against the European Union over duties on high-technology products, WTO sources told AFP on Tuesday.
Going to the top gets results on FiOS
Robert Ritzer had had enough, so he went to the top. And it worked.
Makers hope market ready for ultra-mobile PCs
When it comes to surfing the Internet, playing games or watching movies on the road, a laptop can be too big and a smartphone too small. That's why some tech heavyweights have been working on a device that falls in between.
Comcast's new bandwidth limit irks some users
Comcast's plan to place a cap on consumer Internet use worries some customers who have come to take unfettered Web surfing for granted, even though most users aren't affected by the move.
Intel and Yahoo! to Bring the Internet to Television
Intel Corporation and Yahoo! Inc. today previewed plans for the Widget Channel, a television (TV) application framework optimized for TV and related consumer electronics (CE) devices that use the Intel Architecture. The Widget Channel will allow consumers to enjoy rich Internet applications designed for the TV while watching their favorite TV programs.
Europe’s next-generation broadband
An enormous research effort by Europe’s leading broadband players has helped accelerate dramatically the rollout of next-generation broadband services reaching speeds in the 10s of Mbit/s in many European countries. That is just the start.
Law professor warns the FCC about ceding too much control to large Internet providers
Net neutrality—the notion that everyone has a right to equal access to the Internet—should be a bedrock principle of life on the web, Larry Lessig, law professor and Internet advocate, told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday, as the FCC's five commissioners took the stage at Dinkelspiel Auditorium for a daylong public hearing.
A step toward circuits for terahertz computing
University of Utah engineers took an early step toward building superfast computers that run on far-infrared light instead of electricity: They made the equivalent of wires that carried and bent this form of light, also known as terahertz radiation, which is the last unexploited portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.