IP Democracy: Cox's Robbins Reads Telcos the Riot Act

(Las Vegas, NV) Cox Communications CEO Jim Robbins gave a keynote speech here at the U.S. Telecom conference. And the cable CEO didn’t mince words. He told the telephone industry audience that he doesn’t like the telcos’ public policy tactics.

“We’ll all benefit, but don’t try to tilt the field through the regulatory process,” Robbins told the telco execs. “I admire your deep pockets and leagues of lobbyists, but I don’t agree with your stance.”

In particular, Robbins is steamed at the telcos’ successful pursuit of state-wide franchising in Texas. “Recently, we’ve also seen Texas pass a blatantly discriminatory piece of legislation that guts much of the local franchising process for video providers — except if you’re a cable company, you’re stuck with the old rules and regulatory burdens.”

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on October 25, 2005 6:15 PM to IP Democracy