Newsletter

OPINION: Philadelphia, Nation Must Make Demands of ATT Comcast

Chester, Jeff

2002

Overview

Seizing our rightful digital destiny won't be easy. One of the reasons groups such as mine opposed the Comcast marriage with AT&T was Comcast's lamentable track record in Washington. Comcast has long resisted any public policy that would provide communities a measure of control over their digital bandwidth. Unfortunately, Comcast and its allies have already won many of these battles at the Federal Communications Commission. We are still fighting them in the courts. Will our schools and libraries receive sufficient connections to the Internet to help educate our children? Will Comcast lines provide additional opportunities for all of the area's commercial enterprises, especially small businesses? How is Comcast planning to share its broadband empire with nonprofit civic and cultural groups? How will Comcast ensure that the benefits of the Internet serve low- income households? How much will schools, start-up businesses, and community groups have to pay to gain access? Will groups traditionally marginalized in the media business -- including women and persons of color -- get a chance at owning some of the digital pie?

• Publisher: Tribune Content Agency LLC
• Subject: Community / Internet / Public interest