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> Letter to the editor in response to the Wall Street Journal's
"A Telecom Breakthrough" editorial
Letter to the editor in response to the Wall Street Journal's
"A Telecom Breakthrough" editorial
To the editor:
The Baby Bells have brought out their arsenal of lobbying resources
in an attempt to persuade federal and state decision makers to help
eliminate their competition.
In his Dec. 12 story "Bell Companies Lose Customers to AT&T,
MCI," reporter Yochi Dreazen described the competition facing
SBC Communications, Inc. and some other Baby Bells. It has taken
six years of hard work by state utility regulators, consumer advocates
and competitors for consumers to realize the dream that Congress
envisioned when it passed the sweeping piece of legislation known
as the Telecommunications Act of 1996. It was this act that laid
the competitive foundation by telling the Baby Bells to open their
local markets. Now, the Baby Bells want it all to end.
On the national level, the Federal Communications Commission will
soon consider denying competitors the ability to lease vital parts
of the telephone network from the Baby Bells at wholesale rates.
This would devastate competition. Experts predict that higher monthly
bills, service interruptions and less choice in the variety of services
would result.
State by state, many of the Baby Bells are proposing drastic increases
in the wholesale rates they charge competitors. If approved by regulators,
this would also slam the door on local telephone choice. While critics
of competition may view these rates as "discounted" or
"subsidized," these prices are cost-based and the result
of lengthy regulatory cases. The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld
the formula used to set these prices.
With local telephone competition just beginning to develop in many
states, eliminating the current wholesale structure would be a giant
step backward and ignore the interests of those that deserve and
demand the benefits of choice - our nation's consumers.
Sincerely,
Robert S. Tongren
President, National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
Ohio Consumers' Counsel
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
8380 Colesville Road, Suite 101, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 589-6313 Fax: 589-6380
e-mail: nasuca@nasuca.org |