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PFF-Hosted Panel Features Industry Experts at Friday Noon Event
WASHINGTON, D.C. - With the Federal Communications Commission’s media ownership rules under court attack and AT&T Broadband-Comcast and EchoStar-DirecTV mergers pending, a Progress & Freedom Foundation-hosted panel will examine the current market environment for multi-channel video services and the public policy implications of dynamic changes on the horizon. The panel discussion – the first in this year’s series of PFF Congressional Seminars – takes place Friday, March 1, in Room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building (the Finance committee room).
Panelists include David Gardy, Chairman and CEO, TVWorldwide.com, Inc.; Link Hoewing, Assistant Vice President, Verizon Communications; Chirstopher A. McLean, Vice President, National Strategies, Inc. and Steven F. Vest, Vice President, Congressional Relations, NCTA. Randolph J. May, PFF Senior Fellow and Director of Communications Policy Studies will moderate. PFF President Jeffrey A. Eisenach will introduce the panel. Those interested in attending should register by contacting Rebecca Fuller at 202-289-8928 or rfuller@pff.org.
Saying that potential benefits to consumers far outweigh the costs, Eisenach has urged the Federal Communications Commission to give its blessing to the proposed merger of Echostar and DirecTV, two satellite service providers. In comments filed with the agency, he cited potential efficiencies, including better use of spectrum and the ability to serve more markets. He urged the Commission to pay particular attention to “the potential efficiency and pro-competitive effects of the proposed merger in the market for broadband internet services” currently served by cable and telephone companies.
Eisenach’s comments draw on an earlier filing co-signed by May, urging the FCC to adopt the least restrictive regulatory alternatives possible as it sets new ownership rules for multi-system cable television operators. They asked the Commission to “recognize that horizontal and vertical combinations…have an important role to play in enabling firms to achieve the economies of scale and scope necessary to build-out and provide video and other services over competing platforms, whether they be cable, satellite, wireline, 3G wireless or whatever.”
The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a market-oriented think tank that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy. It is a 501(c)(3) research & educational organization.
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