Big Babies: McSlarrow Calls on Congress to Stop Granting Telco Favors
AT&T’s purchase of BellSouth could be the best thing to happen to cable…if it means regulators and legislators are more receptive to cable’s lobbying efforts. In an exclusive interview with CableFAX Daily, NCTA pres/CEO Kyle McSlarrow talked about the foolishness of granting video-franchising favors to a company-AT&T-that will have a market capitalization that’s bigger than the entire cable industry’s. "Before policymakers race off to give these guys special breaks, they ought to step back and think about what’s actually happened over the last 10 years," McSlarrow said from his Mass Ave offices. "There’s only one constant in the last 10 years, and it’s that the Bells have essentially put Ma Bell together and driven every competitor they’ve had under or bought them or merged with them." McSlarrow sent a letter asking Congress not to simply focus on video bills the telcos are pushing. "The only market where a single industry has over 90% market share is in voice," McSlarrow told CableFAX. "As we roll out voice, we want to make sure that issues like interconnection and access, which were written into the ’96 Act, are still honored as we go forward."