THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT -- HON. PAUL RYAN
(Extensions of Remarks - February 09, 1999)
[Page: E172]
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HON. PAUL RYAN
OF WISCONSIN
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1999
- Mr. RYAN of Wisconsin. Mr. Speaker, three years ago, the President signed
into law the Telecommunications Act of 1996. I was not a member of Congress
then. But I had been, I would have supported the goals of the act to create an
environment where new technologies, consumer choices and jobs would
flourish.
- Today, I am frankly disappointed that those goals have largely not been
met. There is local phone competition because local phone companies have
opened their markets. However, due to the manner in which the FCC has
implemented the act, new local competitors are ``cream skimming'' and are
providing service to predominantly businesses, not residential customers. Due
to the FCC's implementation of the act, local phone companies are still
tangled in a thicket of FCC regulations and are unable to provide consumers
with more choices in long distance service. And advanced telecommunications
services, which provide American households benefits including fast internet
access, are not reaching millions of consumers. In fact, in one region of the
country (which has sadly become known as the `No High Speed Internet Access
Zone''), not a single citizen has high-speed internet access.
- Mr. Speaker, the act is not the problem, the FCC's implementation is. The
Federal Communications Commission has disregarded the intent of Congress, and
in my view, consumers are suffering. It's time to designate, and let the
marketplace do its job.
END