From: Harry Shapiro <habs@panix.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 93 10:41:12 PST
To: mech@eff.org (Stanton McCandlish)
Subject: Re: Should we oppose the Data Superhighway/NII?
In-Reply-To: <199311171754.MAA11672@eff.org>
Message-ID: <199311171840.AA15151@panix.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


a conscious being, Stanton McCandlish wrote:
> I'd say that the 30%+ of US households with computers, and the 10%+ (and
> VERY rapidly growing) with modems is "a major part" of the market.  Far

Their are 95 million homes in America.

Their are 90 million homes with TV

65 million homes have Cable.

Advertisers consider National Broadcast TV to be a major market.

Even to this day, Cable is not seen in the same light as National
Broadcast Networks.

The fact that 9.5 million homes have modems, or 21+ million homes
have computers, does not a real mass market make. Not enough to
force companies to put in special data services; people who want
data can pay between $50 to $530 for a modem and get from 2400 bps to
240,000 bps.

Let the market grow until people actually want data before you put
it into the bundle of regulated basic services.

I am saying, don't regulate data, and thus don't force any carrier to
offer a special data rate. When 60 - 70 million homes have active 
use of Data, then you can have congress set some minimum standard.

> fewer people had phones once upon a time, and even fewer had cable tv
> boxes a decade ago.

And note, without any regulations in terms of basic services, Cable
has grown from serving a small town in Penn. to servicing 65 million
homes in N. America. Cable is better suited to offer voice and high
speed multi-megabit services than are phone companies. Clear proof
that market forces can produce the results we need. (Cable passes over
90% of all homes in this country).