September 9, 2009

 

Ms. Marlene Dortch

Secretary

Federal Communications Commission

445 12th Street, S.W.

Washington, D.C. 20554

 

Via ECFS

 

 

Dear Ms. Dortch:

 

     Pursuant to Section 1.1206 of the Commission’s rules, we are electronically filing this letter in the dockets referenced above as notice of a September 8, 2009 meeting with Commissioner

Meredith Attwell Baker’s Legal Advisors, William D. Freedman and Christi Shewman, and the

following persons:

 

 

     During the meeting, participants discussed the difficulty independent cable operators have in

obtaining non-discriminatory access to pole attachments at reasonable and non-discriminatory rates, terms, and conditions. Participants also discussed the “closed Internet” business models such as Walt Disney Company’s ESPN360 service, which ACA has described in its filings in the National Broadband Plan proceeding.

 

     ACA representatives also stressed that broadband access providers should not be impeded

from offering flexible-pricing models. ACA distributed a recent study by economists Kevin A. Hassett and Robert J. Shapiro of Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy, which concludes that flat-rate pricing plans for broadband will slow broadband adoption among lowerincome Americans.

 

     The Hassett-Shapiro study examines how fast the country could achieve universal broadband access under conditions where network providers used flat-rate billing with unlimited usage or flexible-rate plans that charged high-bandwidth consumers more than occasional users.  The study concluded that flat-rate plans forced network providers to recoup their network upgrade costs from all users equally, increased the cost of broadband for everyone, and made it more difficult for price-sensitive consumers to purchase a broadband subscription. A copy of the Hassett-Shapiro study is being filed with this Notice of Ex Parte Presentation.

 

     Participants further discussed the escalating year-to-year increases in retransmission consent

fees charged to smaller cable operators. Specifically, participants noted a recent survey of ACA’s

membership (submitted and detailed in the latest Video Competition Report proceeding), which

showed a 271% increase in year-to-year retransmission consent fees.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jeremy M. Kissel

 

cc: William D. Freedman (via email)

Christi Shewman (via email)

Matt Polka

Steve Friedman

Ross Lieberman

Ted Hearn