AT&T Takes Its Case to Court AT&T Takes Its Case to Court Paul Jones
AT&T Corp. Monday continued to defend its position against opening its cable network to Internet providers who accuse the telecommunications giant of illegally keeping them out of the high-speed access market.
AT&T Corp. and Portland, Ore., officials squared off in the Ninth Circuit Court. While the telecommunications giant attempted to head off open access proponents in Portland, more than 120 leading Internet and technology-based companies expressed concerns that the Portland cable access case could stifle Internet growth and innovation, if it is upheld by the court.
In a surprising twist during the oral arguments made before the Ninth Circuit Court late Monday, Erik Sten, City Commissioner of Portland, said that the 3-judge panel was considering whether cable modem Internet access is a telecommunication service or a broadcaster.
"This is significant because if cable modem access is a telecommunications service, then open access would be the law of the land when you apply the same regulations that apply to telephone lines, to cables," Sten said. "AT&T strenuously argued that cable modem access is not a telco service, during their 20-minute allotment to speak before the judges."
