The cable companies aren't tier-1 providers, so they have to buy tier-1 access. The telecoms are major players in the tier-1 game, with AT&T the largest tier-1 provider by far. Qwest, Sprint, and Verizon are all in the tier-1 market.
More customers for cable companies leads to more bandwidth purchased by the ISPs from the tier-1 providers.
I don't disagree that he needed to spend more time on the issues with the FEC.