Former Congressman Bill Paxon (R-NY), a key participant in the development of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, said, “The growth in telecommunication services nationwide is evidence that Congress got it right when it passed the 1996 Telecommunications Act. By allowing a competitive market, rather than laws protecting special interests, to drive the process, consumers across America have seen the quality and quantity of telecommunications products explode. The fastest method for expanding the availability of broadband services and choices is competition.”

The following points highlight the tremendous growth in local telecommunications competition and Internet access and backbone services since the passage of the Telecom Act.

• Currently there are 333 competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and now all 50 states have at least one competitor; in contrast, only 13 CLECs existed before Congress enacted the Telecom Act.

• Today there are 35 CLECs with a market capitalization of $86.4 billion. Before the 1996 Telecom Act there were only 9 publicly-traded competitive carriers, with a market capitalization of $3.1 billion.

• More than 99 percent of American households can reach an Internet service provider (ISP) with a local (under 30 miles) telephone call. The nearly universal availability of Internet access is a substantial increase from the 85 percent geographical coverage in 1996.

• More than 96 percent of Americans can choose from four or more ISPs, and, remarkably, 85 percent of Americans can choose from more than 21 ISPs.

• Every year there are more providers of Internet backbone services and facilities. In 1996, there were 14 Internet backbone providers, and by 1999 there were more than 43.

• In 1996, half (seven) of the Internet backbone companies had each deployed fewer than 70 points of presence. Now, 19 companies have installed more than 200 points of presence each.

• Consumer acceptance of digital subscriber line is accelerating, from 77,000 customers in early 1999 to between 650,000 and 750,000 at the end of 1999, with projections of 2 million to 3 million by the end of 2000.

• The market for broadband wireless services is expected to grow from 500,000 access lines in 1999 to more than 4.4 million access lines in 2004 (19 percent of the market for all broadband access lines).

Former Congressman Vic Fazio (D-CA), a member of the House Democrat leadership during the debate of the Telecom Act, said, “New entrant telecommunications companies are investing a billion dollars a month in new facilities and services. The competitive industry’s market capitalization of over $84 billion depends upon the Telecom Act’s requirements for the RBOCs to open their markets and networks to competition. Uncertainty in the telecommunications legal and regulatory climate will severely dampen Wall Street’s enthusiasm for the competitive broadband industry.”

Fazio continued, “If the RBOCs and GTE are successful in their attempt to amend the Telecommunications Act, the results will be devastating. Deployment and development of broadband services and other innovative technologies will be delayed, and continued growth will stall because of the uncertainties.”

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The Competitive Broadband Coalition members include the Association of Communications Enterprises (ASCENT), the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS), AT&T, the Commercial Internet eXchange Association (CIX), CompTel (Competitive Telecommunications Association), Cable & Wireless, Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), Montana Telecommunications Association, Personal Communications Industry Association (PCIA), Sprint, Touch America and WorldCom. More information can be found at http://www.competitivebroadband.org/1041/home.jsp