Friday, June 11, 2004

RE: Telecom Reform Will Help Create Jobs

RE: Articles Telecom Reform Will Help Create Jobs http://www.pacificresearch.org/press/rel/2004/pr_04-04-02sa.html Battling the 'Axis of Old' for Broadband http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/34079.html Sonia Arrison: I was wondering if the PRI is just another RBOC mouthpiece? It sure sounds like you are an SBC funded "policy machine". The PSTN was originally AT&T. During divestiture in 1984 (when AT&T was smaller than most RBOCs today), AT&T kept Bell Labs, equipment and LD. Today, the RBOCs have equipment, internet, local and LD. All supposedly at arms' length subsidary. (Makes me wonder how bundling is DSL, LD and Local is legal and if anyone has ever bothered to actually read the 100-page Telecom Act of 1996). The network has always been paid for by the end users with a governement approved 15% profit built in to the rates. For that, the monopolies had to put up with some "arcane rules" like the one you mention: "What most people outside the telecom industry don't know is that there are a whole host of outdated rules on the books, such as one that forces telephone companies to count the number of minutes it takes to answer a customer call -- and penalizes them if it takes too long." The RBOCs are still a monopoly with 85% of the business. In LD, Verizon is now the number 3 carrier and closing fast on becoming number 2. The RBOC's whine and whine about losing money, but it has yet to happen, even with awful investment decisions (Latin America, Europe, etc.). Of course, AT&T lobbyists also whine - the Telecom Act of 1996 allowed the RBOCs to get LD when they allowed local competition. Now they have LD and want to take back local. (For violations of Article 272, the LD should be taken away from the RBOCs). BellSouth UNE-P price is $17 in Metro. BellSouth retails a 1FB line for as low as $22. If they cannot make money at $17 on the wholesale side of the house, how can there be profit at $22 on the retail side? I agree we need broadband, but you overlook that DSL was not promoted to the masses by the RBOCs originally. It was a company called Northpoint that started the mass-market DSL foray.The RBOCs had been sitting on DSL technology since the 70s! Thank you. Regards, Peter

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