SACHS STATEMENT REGARDING THE U.S. SUPREME COURT'S DECISION TO REVIEW THE BRAND X CASE

Statement of Robert Sachs, President & CEO
National Cable & Telecommunications Association

Regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's Decision to Review the Brand X Case

“We are pleased by the Supreme Court's decision to review this significant case and are optimistic that the Court will affirm the FCC's decision that cable modem service is an interstate information service, fostering a deregulatory environment for cable high-speed Internet access. Establishing a deregulatory environment for cable modem service is critical to the universal deployment in the U.S. of broadband services, including emerging services such as Voice over Internet Protocol service.

This case presents a fundamental question of communications law, carefully decided by the FCC and then overturned by a circuit court that simply ignored what the agency had done, refusing to accord the FCC the deference Supreme Court precedent requires. Classifying cable modem service as an interstate information service, as the FCC did, puts this innovative service on the right deregulatory path.”

# # #

NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 200 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.