ALTS Faults Monopolies' Repeated Efforts to Bypass Competitive Requirements For Advanced Services Competitive DSL Data Service Is Already Available to Millions of Homes
December 8, 1998
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/The Association for
Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS)
faulted incumbent monopolies' requests
today for "relaxed regulation" of advanced
services as just the latest chapter in the
phone giants' saga of trying to circumvent
the Telecommunications Act and the rules
governing local competition. In contrast to
the incumbent monopolists' slow rollout,
competitive providers already offer these
services to over 5.0 million homes today and
expect to quadruple service availability in
1999. ALTS is the leading national
organization representing facilities- based
competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs).
"In the world of advanced data services, the
CLECs lead and the incumbents follow," said
Cronan O'Connell, ALTS Vice President --
Industry Affairs. "Since passage of the Act,
the CLECs have invested $11 billion in
building America's advanced local
infrastructure, and have provided a major
stimulus for today's booming Internet and
DSL industries. We would be making even
greater progress if the monopolies would
obey the law -- including the FCC's
Advanced Service Order of August 1998 --
and open their local networks to competition
as the law directs them. Instead, the
incumbent providers drag their feet on local
competition, and try to circumvent the law."
"Congress and the FCC have laid out the
rules for local competition many times over
the last several years, but the monopolies
just don't like the rules," said O'Connell.
"Relaxing the rules cannot create more
competition -- it will only lock in monopoly
power. If PC companies, software makers
and other interested parties want to help
drive the growth of the Internet and DSL,
they should encourage the incumbents to
live up to the rules of competition -- the real
stimulus of growth."
ALTS is the national industry association
whose mission is to promote facilities-based
local telecommunications competition.
Located in Washington, D.C., the
organization was created in 1987 and
represents companies that build, own, and
operate competitive local networks. For
information on ALTS, contact Jim Crawford at
703-715-0844 or visit the ALTS Web site at
alts.org.
SOURCE Association for Local
Telecommunications Services
/CONTACT: Jim Crawford, 703-715-0844, for
ALTS/ /Web site: alts.org
[Copyright 1998, PR Newswire] |
