CompTel and CLECs TriVergent and KMC Telecom urged Congress not to amend Telecom Act, particularly through bills such as HR- 2420 sponsored by House Telecom Subcommittee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) and Commerce Committee ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.). At Hill briefing, CompTel Vp-Asst. Gen. Counsel Robert McDowell reiterated association's concerns that pending legislation that would ease interLATA restrictions for RBOCs awaiting Sec. 271 approval would diminish incentives for Bell carriers to provide access to competitors. "Amending the Act would bring uncertainty to these financial markets [for CLECs] and it would discourage investments," he told panel staffers. In particular, proposals that emphasize legal recourse of competitors who contend they can't gain access to RBOC network elements raise logistical problems because lawsuits can drag on for years, company officials said. CompTel has argued that Tauzin-Dingell bill and legislation sponsored by Reps. Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Boucher (D-Va.) and others by Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) and Brownback (R-Kan.) would let Bell companies into long distance before fully opening up their networks to competitors.

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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