Cable-Access Worries Ring True to AOL/Time Warner Rivals

America Online (AOL Quote) and Time Warner (TWX Quote) say their postmerger cable TV systems will be open to Internet rivals. But if the recent history of the local telephone business is any guide, whether that means anything depends on your definition of "open."

The meaning is an important one, both to AOL and to the companies outside the AOL-Time Warner constellation that want to piggyback onto Time Warner's cable lines to offer consumers high-speed Internet access, such as EarthLink (ELNK Quote) and Juno Online Services (JWEB Quote).

In the balance are not only the completion of the merger, but also the ability of numerous Internet service providers to keep old customers, or find new ones, as millions of Time Warner cable subscribers upgrade from conventional dial-up connections to cable modems over the next few years.

History

On one hand, it appears that the Federal Trade Commission and other regulators won't approve the merger unless they're persuaded AOL Time Warner will open up its broadband pipes, at a reasonable price, to AOL's competitors in the world of high-speed Internet service -- for example, EarthLink. Plus, AOL and Time Warner insist that opening up their systems to AOL's competitors makes good business sense. So there would seem to be no obstacles to open cable systems. ...