CABLE: AT&T PLAYING CATCH UP ONCE AGAIN
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19, 2006
Contact: Kirsten Voinis, (512) 922-7141
kvoinis@austin.rr.com
AUSTIN – The Texas Cable & Telecommunications Association issued the following statement today following AT&T’s visit Monday to Clint to discuss Senate Bill 5 (the new telecommunications reform law) and AT&T’s plans to offer DSL.
The statement below can be attributed to Kirsten Voinis, spokesperson for TCTA:
“Texas cable operators are glad that AT&T is joining us in finally making high-speed Internet accessible to rural communities. Cable companies are proud to already provide high-speed Internet access – at speeds three times as fast as DSL – to Texans in numerous small towns across the state, including Clint.
“Clint residents have enjoyed high-speed Internet access from Time Warner since 2003.
“AT&T has had broadband technology for years – it’s too bad that it’s taken so long to reach Clint and other communities, particularly since AT&T receives more than $200 million each year in government subsidies in the form of a 5.65 percent tax on every Texan’s phone bill. This deployment could have been done long before the passage of Senate Bill 5, Texas’ new telecommunications law, which contains no provisions that enhance broadband deployment.
“This is just another example of AT&T continuing to trumpet ‘news’ about services that aren’t new for cable operators. Cable operators have been setting the standard for innovation in the video services and high speed internet business without ever having the luxury of a guaranteed return on investment or massive government subsidies afforded to the phone companies. Yet the phone companies still have a long way to go to catch up.”
TCTA (www.txcable.com) is the primary trade organization for cable operators in Texas.
