Engineer:
The RBOCs will try everything to slow competition in their regions.... but they are starting to loss some the battles... when will they loss the war?... time will tell.
Internet data access is a different game then voice access with respect to deregulation. Here is a something that i found yesterday on this issue....
"*** CHANGING INTERNET ACCESS RULES -- Depending on whom you believe, Pacific Telesis has either stumbled across the first evidence of a potentially disastrous breakdown in the nation's telephone network or is being cynically alarmist to further its regulatory agenda. But as far as the Internet providers and long-distance carriers are concerned, Pacific Telesis and other Bell companies are vastly exaggerating the threat of a network overload to force a change in the rules that govern how they are paid for carrying data traffic. The roots of the dispute extend back to 1983, when the FCC declared that on-line computer service providers would be exempt from the access charges that long-distance carriers paid to the Bells for completing their calls. While AT&T, MCI, and Sprint had to pay Pacific Telesis or Nynex a per-minute rate for completing their voice calls, companies that offered access to the Internet paid only the basic monthly rate for a phone line. The FCC's goal was to nurture a nascent industry and guarantee that fledgling Internet providers were not strangled in their cribs by onerous telephone bills. But with the
growth of the Internet, many of the infants have grown into big companies like America Online and Psinet. Moreover, AT&T, MCI and Sprint now all offer Internet access. [NY Times]"
Here is a battle that USWEST is lossing....
"*** LOCAL MARKET/WASHINGTON -- US West will be forced to reduce what it charges thousands of Washington businesses and long-distance callers, after a Superior Court judge yesterday upheld a decision by state regulators that the state's largest phone company is making too much money. "All consumers, little and big, from AT&T to your grandmother who makes five calls a month, have won," said Rob Manifold, an assistant attorney general who represents the [Washington Utilities and Transportation] commission. Unless the rulings are overturned on appeal, [Judge Robert] Lasnik's action also will help speed the day when companies such as AT&T and MCI are able to compete vigorously for residential telephone customers in Washington, Manifold said. [Seattle Post-Intelligencer]"
I have many more examples of this type of information. Can you give some additional information on your views/concerns with deregulation?
PS... By no means am I an expert in this area... until later... |
