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DAVID CONNELL
There was good news and bad news from the General Accounting Office last week on the state of competition in the Internet service provider market. The good news is that consumers who access the Internet through dial-up services have plenty of choice. However, those who have upgraded to a broadband connection are working in a competition-free zone.
The GAO found that there are about 7,000 local and national ISPs operating in the United States. While every Internet user does not have access to all these ISPs, most narrowband users have several choices when accessing the Internet, the report said. Conversely, the GAO found that customers of cable broadband services "often have limited or no choice among ISPs."
Choice between broadband ISPs has been a hot issue in Washington this year as lawmakers and regulators wrestle with the AOL Time Warner merger and the possibility of initiating a national policy of open access.
The report is the fourth installment of an overall GAO study on the state of competition in the telecommunications industry.
CHARTER LAUNCHES VOD Charter Communications launched video-on-demand service to 167,000 homes in Pasadena, Calif., making it the first city in the MSO's Los Angeles region to have access to the technology. Using Diva Systems's VOD technology, Charter plans to roll out the service to about 275,000 subscribers in greater Los Angeles by the end of 2000.
ALCATEL, ORACLE FORM COMPANY French telecom equipment maker Alcatel and U.S. software provider Oracle are setting up a joint company that will offer interactive television services to European telephone operators. The joint venture, called Thirdspace, will offer television programming as well as technology that has been developed by both companies.
ROAD RUNNER PRICE CUT Time Warner Cable in Minnesota is reducing prices for its Road Runner service, effective Nov. 1. The division also is add-ing new services for on-line customers, such as a package to support home networking. The new Road Runner program charges $39.95 to all customers; eliminates the rental fee for the primary modem; eliminates installation fees; reduces the monthly cost of additional modems to $15 each; and offers bundles of Road Runner and digital video products to make monthly charges even lower.
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