Music is "content" that will flow across that cable — content that AT&T hopes people will pay for, perhaps on a pay-per-listen basis just as many people now pay per view.

It also points to the anomaly of the ban on operators being allowed to carry the Derby and Grand National when the races can be carried by premium telephone information services, such as BT's Turf Call, which are arguably pay-per-listen (and which have to be licensed by the authority).