BellSouth's Ackerman Says Let The Bandwidth Race Begin

For Immediate Release:

May 19, 1999

WASHINGTON - When it comes to bringing high-speed Internet access to consumers, too much regulation of local telephone networks is a much bigger problem than any re-assembly of AT&T's monopoly, Duane Ackerman, chief executive of BellSouth, said today.

"I am not as concerned about what AT&T can do as I am about what BellSouth can't do," Ackerman said.

Speaking at a Capitol Hill Congressional briefing hosted by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Ackerman said there are two primary networks that will bring Internet access to the mass market: cable and telephone. Cable is virtually unregulated, while local telephony faces a host of federal and state regulations that turn investment decisions into risky dilemmas rather than basic opportunities to win customers.

"On the cable side, the course for deployment is clear," Ackerman said. "A cable company can invest its money, invent the technology, develop new products and services and serve its customers.

"On the phone side, the course is unclear," Ackerman said. "If we invest in data, will we be required to un-bundle elements and sell them at a discount so our competitors can resell them without having the make the investment? Will we have to establish a costly separate subsidiary for data?"

Such costly requirements make it harder to justify investments in broadband, Ackerman said. "There is tremendous imbalance - in regulation, in risk."

Ackerman noted that there already is competition in local telephony from a number of competitors, who are deploying high-speed Internet access to mainly business customers and continuing to gain bigger shares of that lucrative marketplace. Fewer regulations on broadband deployment by incumbent telephone companies would help a different, far less influential customer, Ackerman said.

"The rural and non-affluent neighborhoods will share in the benefits from letting the competitive race begin," Ackerman said.

BellSouth is a $23 billion communications services company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 34 million customers in 19 countries worldwide.

For more information, contact:

John Schneidawind, (202) 463-4183

NOTE: For more information about BellSouth, visit the BellSouth Web page at http://www.bellsouth.com/. Also, BellSouth news releases dating back one year are available by fax at no charge by calling 1-800-758-5804, ext. 095650 or write: for Atlanta releases 1155 Peachtree St., N.E.; Atlanta, Ga. 30309-3610 and for DC releases; 1133 21st St., N.W.; Suite 900; Washington, D.C. 2003.

A list of BellSouth Media Relations Contacts is available in the Corporate Information Center.

Click here to find the latest on BellSouth Application to FCC to Offer Long-Distance Service in Georgia and Louisiana.

NOTE: For more information about BellSouth, visit the BellSouth Web page at http://www.bellsouth.com/. Also, BellSouth news releases dating back one year are available by fax at no charge by calling 1-800-758-5804, ext. 095650 or write: for Atlanta releases 1155 Peachtree St., N.E.; Atlanta, Ga. 30309-3610 and for DC releases; 1133 21st St., N.W.; Suite 900; Washington, D.C. 20036.

A list of BellSouth Media Relations Contacts is available in the Corporate Information Center.

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