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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (5606)	10/19/1999 10:03:00 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

Kennard promises rewards if phone companies open up I was suspicious of this SBC deal. RBOCs don't anything for nothing. Here is the proof: [Kennard's comments came on the same day that SBC officially announced plans to accelerate the rollout of high-speed Internet service throughout its territory. Although Kennard said he was not familiar with the details of the plan, he said one of his biggest goals as commissioner is to encourage the deployment of such so-called ``broadband' services throughout the country. ``I want to create an oasis from regulation in the broadband world, so that any company, using any technology, will have incentives to deploy broadband,' Kennard said.] The whole article: Kennard promises rewards if phone companies open up Baby Bells are accused of foot-dragging BY CHRIS O'BRIEN Mercury News Staff Writer SAN FRANCISCO -- Federal Communications Commission Chairman William Kennard chastised executives from the nation's dominant local phone companies Monday, saying they were not moving quickly enough to open their networks to competition and that the industry won't see further deregulation until consumers have more choices. ``Lip service and foot-dragging won't cut it,' Kennard said. ``You need to embrace competition.' Kennard make his remarks at an appearance before the United States Telecom Association in San Francisco. The USTA, which represents SBC Communications Inc. and other phone companies that provide local telephone service, lobbies the FCC and Congress on its members' behalf. That role has led to plenty of clashes in recent years with Kennard, who in 1997 was appointed as head of the FCC. Kennard had kind words for local telephone companies and their role in providing universal service and building a telephone system that is highly reliable. But when it came to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Kennard expressed his disappointment with the group's response. The act was designed to foster competition by forcing local telephone companies to share their networks with competitors. Instead, Kennard said, the dominant phone companies that control those networks initially responded with litigation to block some parts of the law and by raising objections to the various criteria the FCC developed to implement it. ``They looked at it and didn't think about competition,' Kennard said. ``They thought about confrontation. We lost valuable time in implementing this act. It's time for us to move on.' Kennard said he has listened to local telephone operators' requests for less regulation. But, he said, the FCC continues to hear complaints on a daily basis from potential competitors who say they can't get the necessary access to the networks owned by local telephone companies to offer new services. Kennard promised that once competition arrives, the local phone companies can expect more deregulation, including greater freedom to raise and lower prices and to offer new services. But he also made it clear that day is nowhere in sight. ``I understand that many of you think that competition has already arrived,' Kennard said. ``Oftentimes, the FCC believes that you talk a good game of competition, but we are still waiting to see it, at least the kind of broad-scale competition that means choice for all consumers.' The remarks can't be good news for an industry that desperately wants permission to offer long-distance so it can compete against established companies like AT&T and MCI WorldCom. The FCC turned down five previous long-distance applications from Baby Bells, though Bell Atlantic has recently filed what appears to be a promising application to provide long distance in New York. SBC, the parent of Pacific Bell, hopes to soon file for permission to offer long-distance in Texas and California. Kennard's comments came on the same day that SBC officially announced plans to accelerate the rollout of high-speed Internet service throughout its territory. Although Kennard said he was not familiar with the details of the plan, he said one of his biggest goals as commissioner is to encourage the deployment of such so-called ``broadband' services throughout the country. ``I want to create an oasis from regulation in the broadband world, so that any company, using any technology, will have incentives to deploy broadband,' Kennard said.