The Unpredictable Certainty White Papers (1997) / Chapter Skim
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Funding the National Information Infrastructure: Advertising, Subscription, and Usage Charges
Funding the National Information Infrastructure: Advertising, Subscription, and Usage Charges
Pages 156-164
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From page 156... ...
While this focus is useful In galvanizing political support for action, it may divert attention from the magnitude of the economic task involved in building the new information superhighway. Investors win be committing enormous resources to risky new technologies with uncertain information on future service revenues, the cost of these services, and the prospect offur~er technical brealc~hroughs that could render new facilities obsolete in a short time.
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From page 157... ...
The print media provided information and advertising aimed at specialized national markets or at decidedly local markets. Radio broadcasting provided entertainment services for which it had little direct competition other than records, but it competed with print media in disseminating local and national news.
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From page 159... ...
In this pursuit, the regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) have won court reversals of the restriction on their provision of information services that was part of the decree breaking up AT&T.3 In addition, invoking the First Amendment, several RBOCs have recently mounted successful First Amendment challenges to the legislative ban on telephone company provision of cable television service In its own region.4 NEW COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES ~ the next few years, cable television operators, telephone companies, and satellite operators wall be facing off in the competition to build new broadband distribution networks.
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From page 160... ...
This latter estimate is aIrnost exactly equal to the book value of the entire net plant of all regional Bell operating companies and about 80 percent of the book value of the net plant for all telephone companies in the United States. Thus, if the Nit is to be built by established telephone companies with technology now under development, it would probably require a near doubling of these companies' assets.
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From page 161... ...
The removal of these restrictions caused cable revenues to rise rapidly, fed by both advertising and subscriber fees, while traditional broadcast advertising revenues continued to nse. Telephone investment rose rapidly in the 1970s abler entry restrictions on long distance competitors were lifted.
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From page 162... ...
As long as there are no prohibitions on advertiser support or direct subscriber payments In a competitive marketplace, there is little reason for policymakers to attempt to prejudge the choice of support mechanisms for the current information infrastructure or for the NII. It can always be argued that virtually any information or entertainment service has attributes of a public good.
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From page 163... ...
This was precisely the outcome of the FCC's protection of television broadcasters from the development of cable in the 1960s and 1970s and of the federal/state protection of telephone companies from competition in customerpremises equipment, long distance services, and wireless services. The calls for preferential access to the NU from a variety of wormy public institutions are understandable, but they should be resisted if they require carriers or other service providers to cross-subsidize them from other service revenues.
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From page 164... ...
10. Bell Atlantic has recently withdrawn its Section 214 applications for hybrid fiber/coaxial cable technology but remains committed to building a broadband network using other technologies, such as fiber to the curb.
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