Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (1641)	7/23/1998 3:01:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Respond to of 12823

NTIA Urges Pressure On ILECs Over Broadband July 23, 1998 WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S.A, Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : The National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to let incumbent local exchange carriers into the national long-distance market yet, arguing that they have not sufficiently opened their own markets to competition. The FCC should press the ILECs to make it easier for their local competitors to offer digital subscriber line (DSL) services, said the NTIA in a letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard. The Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS) welcomed the letter, calling the position taken by the US Department of Commerce agency a "voice of reason." Jim Crawford, a spokesman for ALTS, told Newsbytes that ALTS also filed a petition with the FCC in May, calling on the regulatory body to promote competition in broadband services. The FCC is required by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to conduct a review this year of the progress that has been made in deploying advanced telecommunications systems. The NTIA said in its letter to Kennard that this is "an opportunity for the Commission to encourage investment in broadband networks and services by all industry segments, using a variety of technologies." The ILECs have asked the FCC to allow them to enter the national long-distance market, contending that Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act permits the FCC to allow the Bell operating companies (BOCs) -- Bell Atlantic, BellSouth, SBC Communications, Ameritech, and US West -- into that market once they open up their own markets to competition. The NTIA argues in its letter that the local markets are not open enough yet, so the FCC should not grant the BOCs petitions. Specifically, says the letter, the ILECs are not offering local DSL loop facilities to competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) on reasonable terms, and their rules for letting CLECs put their own equipment on the ILECs' premises so the networks can be interconnected -- known as collocation -- are unreasonable. For instance, most ILECs require that any CLEC wanting to install equipment on its premises must construct a "cage" 10 feet square and 10 feet high to hold the gear. CLECs say this makes them pay for far more space than they need. "We want cageless collocation that is economically and efficiently provided," Crawford said. The NTIA also raises concerns about FCC rules governing what equipment may and may not be collocated -- those rules are coming into conflict with a trend to integrate more functions into a single box, the letter says. The NTIA is at ntia.doc.gov and ALTS is at alts.com on the World Wide Web. Reported By Newsbytes News Network: newsbytes.com (19980722/Press Contact: Sallianne Fortunato, NTIA, 202-482-7002, e-mail sfortunato@ntia.doc.gov; Jim Crawford, Crawford Public Relations for ALTS, 703- 715-0844 /WIRES TELECOM, LEGAL, GOVT, BUSINESS/) <<Newsbytes -- 07-22-98>> [Copyright 1998, NewsBytes]