WASHINGTON ­ A newly-formed coalition of associations and companies providing competitive broadband telecom services to all Americans said today the key to faster deployment of these new technologies is ensuring that policy makers enforce the market-opening principles of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

On the eve of a Senate hearing on broadband issues scheduled April 13, the Competitive Broadband Coalition said it will call on regulators, Congress and the Clinton Administration to continue to uphold the basic principles of the Act to ensure that Americans have a choice in advanced data services. The Coalition looks forward to having its members share industry success stories as a result of the Act with policymakers.

The Coalition, whose members include the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS), AT&T, the Commercial Internet eXchange Association (CIX), the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel), MCI WorldCom, Qwest, Sprint, and the Telecommunications Resellers Association (TRA) will focus on the following critical goals:

Focus national attention on the entire industry's efforts to implement broadband facilities;

Emphasize that full deployment of advanced broadband data services can only happen when markets are open for all competitors;

Urge policymakers to continue to support the open markets that competitors need;

Encourage Congress to leave the Telecom Act alone. The Act already provides the proper incentives for encouraging the deployment of broadband services. Reopening or changing the Act would chill investment in broadband. Policymakers need to stand firm and enforce the Act.

The coalition has compiled objective third party data showing that competitive forces are driving the rapid deployment of broadband services to customers. Aggressive investment by CLECs, cable companies and satellite providers in new broadband infrastructure and services is the reason for the stepped up broadband deployment by the local telephone companies.

"Competitive local phone companies are leading the charge to deploy advanced data services," said John Windhausen, Jr., ALTS President. "Under the Telecommunications Act, the CLECs have invested in and built the advanced local networks that support Internet services used by businesses, consumers, schools and libraries in thousands of communities across America, as well as specialized high-speed data services such as DSL. To assure the continued explosive growth of these services, competitors need a strong pro-competitive signal from policy makers and legislators."

"The Internet service providers we represent need choice for the 'last mile' to the home that is still firmly controlled by the Bell monopolies and GTE," said Barbara Dooley, president of Commercial Internet eXchange. "ISPs would be severely harmed if the incumbent local providers are relieved from their obligation to open their markets to competitors. This 'relief' will hinder, not help, the deployment of advanced services and high speed Internet access."

"The threat of competition from competitive service providers of all types and sizes is forcing the Bell monopolies and GTE to deploy their broadband DSL services much faster than they had planned," said H. Russell Frisby, Jr., president of CompTel. "Market forces are beginning to work and consumers and businesses are beginning to see the fruits. The most damaging thing policy makers could do now is to succumb to monopolists claiming they need special relief.

"This coalition is an historic collection of entities from across the competitive industry, from large to small, including CLECs, ISPs, resellers and global long distance carriers all with one message: the Act is working and competition is the only alternative."

"It goes without saying that if you want advanced telecommunications

services dispersed as widely as possible, you need more than a handful of local telephone monopolies providing them," said TRA President Ernest B. Kelly III. "We need to make them available through resale at discounts and through unbundled network elements so that thousands of small businesses who specialize in the sales and marketing of telecommunications services can do what they do best. Nothing the FCC could do would stimulate the growth of advanced services more than this."

Note to reporters/editors: Competitive telecommunications companies who are currently providing broadband data or high-speed Internet access services are available to discuss their deployment efforts and the obstacles they have encountered in local markets. Please contact any of the Coalition press contacts for a list of these companies.

Press Contacts:

Jim Crawford	Pam Small
ALTS	CompTel
(703) 715-0844	(202) 296-6650

Mark McFadden	James Fisher
CIX	Sprint
(703) 709-8200	(202) 828-7406

Julie Hill	Tyler Gronbach
TRA	Qwest
(202) 835-9898	(303) 992-2155

Jim McGann	Peter Lucht
AT&T	MCI Worldcom
(202) 457-3942	(202) 887-2474