Cable Modems and Choosing an ISP

[James Love <love@tap.org>]

  (cross posted to telecomreg and com-priv)
  
  With all the talk about cable modems, I would like to better understand 
  one point.  Will the Cable company (which under the new telecom law may 
  be the local exchange carrier) decide who you can connect to, in terms of 
  an Internet Service Provider?  That is, since the cable system is not a 
  common carriage platform, will the firm that provides the cable modem 
  decide which ISP you can use, and more or less be in a position to insist 
  on rather agressive terms with the value added information providers?  If 
  so, why aren't the current crop of ISPs (or other value added 
  information service providers) more nervous?  What am I missing?
  
     jamie
  
     The following is a interesting press release for Rogers Wave, a
  cable/Internet service provided in Canada. 
  
  http://www.rogerswave.ca/wave/release1.html
  
  Rogers Brings Information Highway to Newmarket in its Market Roll-Out of
  Access to Information Services via Cable
  
  Newmarket, Ontario -- November 28, 1995 -- Rogers Cablesystems Limited
  announced today the roll-out of Rogers WAVE™ for home (formerly CableLink -
  HOME) -- the fastest, most powerful access to a suite of online content,
  including the Internet. For $39.95 per month, consumers with a personal
  computer (PC) can now enjoy a true multimedia experience in their home and
  more immediately experience the thrill of the World Wide Web. The community
  of Newmarket has been chosen as the site for the market phase of the
  roll-out, following the completion of a successful technical trial with 50
  homes in Newmarket.
  
  "Rogers Cablesystems is proud to offer the Newmarket community the quickest
  on-ramp to the Internet," says Colin D. Watson, President and CEO of Rogers
  Cablesystems Limited. "We've integrated breakthrough technology with Rogers'
  newly-upgraded two-way, fibre/coaxial broadband cable network to develop
  Rogers WAVE. The service works at breakneck speed. A video clip that would
  normally take many minutes to download with a common telephone modem, takes
  only seconds with Rogers WAVE. Now people can enjoy multimedia the way it's
  meant to be -- immediate, easy and fun."
  
   [ snip]
  
  
  "Through its Rogers WAVE Greenhouse Program , Rogers is encouraging the
  development of new content that takes advantage of the large bandwidth
  Rogers WAVE offers," said Mr. Watson. "For instance, Lifeline, Toronto Life
  magazines online publication, as well as many other organizations, will soon
  be offering content to consumers through Rogers WAVE. Because Rogers is
  among the world leaders in the development of bandwidth technologies, some
  of the greatest advances on the Internet are expected to come out of Canada
  through the Rogers WAVE Greenhouse Program."
  
  Rave Reviews from Newmarket Trial
  The Newmarket technical trial of Rogers WAVE for home shows that consumers
  are ready for a true multimedia experience and a lightning-fast way to go
  online. "This is excellent," said Ben Hollander, a retired Newmarket
  resident. "The difference in speed from my previous modem is significant.
  Pictures and video come almost instantaneously. And because it's cable, I
  dont have to tie up the telephone when I go online," Mr. Hollander added.
  
  The Baerthel family also enjoyed the Rogers service. Jodi Baerthel received
  gardening tips online and helped plan a family trip to England by surfing
  Web sites for information about English exhibits and landmarks. Her
  11-year-old son Andrew tapped into the latest sports and entertainment
  offerings on the Net and participated in several international chat groups.
  Husband and father Mike Baerthel, a computer professional and CompuServe©
  user since 1986, marveled at the speed of Rogers WAVE. I was in awe of the
  speed. It is lightning fast and there is no comparison between this and a
  telephone connection, particularly in downloading files. The experience was
  really great and I found Rogers support group to be very responsive.
  
  "I absolutely love it," said Jim Warren, a residential developer living in
  Newmarket. "The speed is amazing and it's so easy to use. It opens up a
  whole new realm of what can be done from a personal computer."
  
  Subscriber Details
  Newmarket residents wishing to subscribe to Rogers WAVE for home require a
  minimum 486SX/25 megahertz processor with 8MB of RAM and a Super VGA
  monitor. Subscribers will be equipped with a cable modem, rental of which is
  included in the price of the service.
  
  The service is $39.95 per month for unlimited access, which includes a range
  of services Rogers WAVE has assembled. These include WAVE Web links to
  explore the Web for entertainment and learning, Tidal WAVE Web links which
  give users access to high-speed content such as Lifeline, Toronto Life
  magazines online publication plus many more custom-developed sites to be
  announced, and finally e-mail capabilities. For an additional cost, Rogers
  WAVE subscribers can access a WAVE Page kit to help them build their own Web
  site, or a host of commercial online services such as CompuServe© or America
  Online. There is also a one-time cost of $99 for the "Up and Running" Rogers
  WAVE installation package.
  
  Assuming a successful market trial, Rogers WAVE for home will be made
  available in a number of additional Canadian markets to be announced in
  1996, and a wider roll-out will follow in 1997. Through a consortium
  involving Rogers Cablesystems, Shaw Communications Inc. of Calgary, and
  Groupe Vidéotron Ltée. of Montreal, the cable service will be available
  nationally as Rogers partners Shaw and Vidéotron roll out their versions.
  
  Rogers Cablesystems Limited, Canada's largest cable network operator,
  provides entertainment and information services to approximately 2.4 million
  customers in Ontario and British Columbia. The company also owns and
  operates 131 video stores (Rogers Video) and a high speed access provider
  (Rogers Network Services).
  
  
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  James Love, love@tap.org
  P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036; v. 202/387-8030; f. 202/234-5176
  Consumer Project on Technology; http://www.essential.org/cpt/cpt.html
  Taxpayer Assets Project; http://www.essential.org/tap/tap.html