In the last couple of years, there’s been plenty of talk in Washington about reforming communications policy.Efforts by Congress to re-write the major telecommunications laws died at the end of last year when the previous Congress adjourned before the holidays.But with a relatively new Congress in Washington, we have a fresh opportunity to think about what makes sense for the future of communications policy.

The level and intensity of competition in today’s communications marketplace demand that “reform” be something dramatically different – something that reflects the fundamental change that has and continues to occur in the marketplace.

A deregulatory environment in Washington through the better part of the past decade has helped fuel cable’s growth and stimulated enormous competition in...Read More

While March Madness typically refers to the sports-crazed calendar of activities that occurs this time of year, the slogan could have a different meaning in 2009 if millions of Americans suddenly realize their TVs are no longer able to receive broadcast television.

Just two weeks before March Madness begins in 2009 -- Feb. 17, to be exact -- the nation will complete its transition to digital TV and broadcasters will no longer use the analog TV spectrum. So while 2009 seems like a distant thought, all industries involved in providing Americans with TV service -- including cable -- have been preparing for years for the new era of broadcast digital TV to begin.

The good news for cable is that we embraced the digital world several years ago and have been making our own transition since the late 1990s. Cable operators a...Read More

I wonder if the headline of the FCC's recent report on cable prices had said, "Consumers Watching More Cable, Cost of Actual Viewing Going Down," would we have seen stories in most newspapers suggesting that cable customers are receiving a better value?

Probably not, but a true analysis of today's marketplace would reach those conclusions.

I wrote in this space a few weeks ago about how perplexed I was that the NCTA was required each year to file a report demonstrating that the marketplace was "competitive" for multichannel video. Yet just after that column was published, we encountered another baffling episode in which the FCC released a two-year-old report on cable prices containing several inaccuracies that I have asked the commission to correct.

The first fact that's obvio...Read More

After nearly two years on the job at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, I have found one our most perplexing tasks to be responding to the annual requirement that we file a detailed report proving to the federal government that cable exists in a competitive environment. After all, anyone who has worked in cable or the media business for more than a few minutes knows that we live and breathe competition every day.

Just a few days ago, the NCTA again submitted to the Federal Communications Commission our annual update on the status of competition in the video marketplace. The results were not surprising, and any suggestion that consumers don't have choices in today's marketplace simply ignores the facts.

The reality: The marketplace for multichannel video services has never been more competitive. More than 30 m...Read More

One of the most important elements of public policy is understanding that perception plays a significant role in the legislative process. It’s a truism that our opponents will work hard to define us if we don’t take the initiative to define ourselves.

Applying this same strategy is just as important in public policy advocacy, especially for an industry such as ours, often the target of competitors looking to gain an unfair regulatory advantage.

Building a positive perception of cable among leaders in Washington, D.C., is in part why we at NCTA moved to our new headquarters near Capitol Hill last month. And just last week, I joined NCTA’s board of directors in unveiling a new exhibit, cableINNOVATES, at our Capitol Hill offices.

Our goal ...Read More

Cable, broadcast and consumer-electronics companies are moving full-speed ahead to support the transition to an all-digital broadcast-TV format, a cutover that Congress has mandated for 2009. But a backwards-looking and completely unnecessary government mandate threatens to impose a new tax on all cable customers and discourage that migration of analog television owners into the digital age.

Worse, it threatens to undermine what will already be an enormous challenge by making the transition more complex and more expensive for consumers.

The mandate is the "Integration Ban." Imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the mandate specifically requires that cable boxes must be re-engineered to use an insertable security card (a "CableCARD") that performs the same "security" and "descrambling" functions that current &...Read More