Telecommunications Law: Open Access to Cable Broadband Transmission: AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 216 F.3d 871 (9th Cir. 2000)

Authors

• Deborah L. Lively, Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law

Abstract

In AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, the Ninth Circuit considered whether a local cable franchising authority could condition the transfer of a cable franchise upon the cable operator's grant of unrestricted access to its cable broadband transmission facilities.

In 1998, AT&T - the nation's largest long-distance telephone provider - proposed a merger with Telecommunications, Inc. ("TCI"), which was among the nation's largest cable-television operators. In the merger, AT&T received access to TCI's cable broadband transmission system as a conduit for AT&T's "@Home" Internet service. A cable broadband system provides Internet access at much faster speeds than through typical modem connections. Even though AT&T's @Home service ultimately failed financially, the case raises difficult legal and policy issues that will continue to spark debate.

Recommended Citation

Deborah L. Lively, Telecommunications Law: Open Access to Cable Broadband Transmission: AT&T Corp. v. City of Portland, 216 F.3d 871 (9th Cir. 2000), 6 Computer L. Rev. & Tech. J. 313 (2002)