|
|
 |
Sign Up: Free Daily Tech E-letter
|
|||||
|
Local Phone Service Rules Left to Expire
Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 10, 2004; Page A01
The Justice Department's decision is a huge blow to struggling long-distance companies such as AT&T Corp. and MCI Inc., which used the regulations to launch their own brands of local service. It also adds confusion to an industry already roiled by technological changes, as wireless phones proliferate and Internet phone service becomes a reality. About 19 million telephone lines -- about 14 percent of the local phone market -- are served by companies that relied on the government regulations. AT&T said yesterday that the decision could lead it to raise rates and possibly abandon local service in some markets. "Failure to appeal this case could do lasting damage to the entire competitive telecom industry -- and will lead inevitably to higher prices and fewer choices for Americans," James W. Cicconi, AT&T's general counsel, said in a prepared statement yesterday.
The rules at the center of yesterday's decision are a byproduct of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, an effort by Congress to introduce competition into the telephone market. At the time, the industry was largely shaped by a court decision that spun off several regional companies from AT&T. The regional companies were given the local phone business, and AT&T was handed the long-distance market. The act allowed the regional giants into the long-distance market if they would open their local markets to competition. AT&T and other long-distance carriers were allowed into local markets.
About TechNews.com | Advertising | Contact TechNews.com | Privacy My Profile | Rights & Permissions | Subscribe to print edition | Syndication |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
