While Compton's "revolutionary" deal breaks up the monopolies, provides discounted rates for the poor, and brings new fiber-optic technology to Seattle consumers, it has a substantial flaw: in killing the old monopoly, the city council may have created another.
At issue: The deal fails to clearly embrace a concept called "open access." Open access means making the technology, like the fiber-optic lines, available to any group that wants to serve the public. By having a closed access contract, like the one Seattle just signed, WIN has the power to decide which services can have access to Seattleites. This means WIN decides which phone companies you get to choose from, or which Internet providers you use. So technically, while residents are getting more choices than they used to, their choices are defined by WIN. This troubles small Internet providers like the Speakeasy Network. "We're afraid they're going to shut us out in favor of large corporations," says Speakeasy spokesperson Kat Oak.
Some cities, like Portland, tried to address the open access problem last year by mandating that AT&T open its lines to competing companies. The mandate was eventually struck down in federal court and is currently being reviewed by the FCC. In response to the pending decision, Portland, which also signed a contract with WIN, made a deal with the company that if the federal ruling is reversed, the city can renegotiate for open access. To dramatize its intent, Portland wrote a statement of policy that explicitly says it will switch the contract to open access if it can.
The Seattle contract does have a renegotiation clause, called a "reopener" in legalese, but there is no statement of policy in the contract. The lack of a policy statement worries critics who say it will be tougher to renegotiate with WIN, and harder to prove the city's open access intentions in court. "The reopeners are only used to divert public criticism. Without a statement, it's unclear what Seattle wants," says Mike Weisman, a member of the city's Citizens Telecommunications and Technology Advisory Board (CTTAB).
More important, the contract sets a precedent for future negotiations with other cable companies. Tellingly, after learning of the deal with WIN, both AT&T and Millennium announced they would be seeking renegotiations with the city.
