For Immediate Release
February 8, 2000

Washington, DC—CompTel, the leading national association representing U.S. and international competitive communications companies, today in a letter to Congress, urged lawmakers to oppose Bell-initiated "broadband relief" legislation, and particularly H.R. 2420, sponsored by Representative W.J. "Billy" Tauzin (R-LA) and Representative John Dingell (D-MI). The letter was sent to all members of the House of Representatives on behalf of CompTel’s 350 members, many of whom "owe their existence to" the 1996 Telecom Act, and signed by the association’s Board of Directors.

"As we celebrate the Fourth Anniversary of the passage of the 1996 Telecom Act, we want to assure you that the Act is working and that it should not be amended," said CompTel members. CompTel estimates its membership, which is has grown 170 percent since passage of the ’96 Act, "generates $115 billion in annual revenues and employs hundreds of thousand of workers in each of the 50 states." The association warned that H.R.2420 "would destroy the incentives needed" to foster competition and keep it growing in local monopoly markets.

CompTel reminded lawmakers that new "competitors" have been the first to roll out broadband services, not Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs) or GTE, and broadband services are being deployed rapidly in rural states and elsewhere in response to market competition—"competition spawned by the Act." CompTel chided the Bells and GTE in its letter for suppressing "DSL-type technology for years while they sold inferior but more profitable products to consumers" until, in response to market forces, they began to deliver DSL-based services.

In recent Hill staff briefings last month, CompTel and its member companies, such as KMC Telecommunications, Trivergent Communications, Prism Communication Services, Inc., reported on their current rapid deployment of broadband and Internet services, as well as future plans in markets that are being abandoned or not served by local Bell monopolies and GTE. In all instances, CompTel member companies said they are developing new service offerings and delivering these services as a result of the Act and the confidence that the legislation gave Wall Street to continue to invest in their companies.

The association also reiterated its primary objectives to advance competition and competitive choices for consumers in 2000 are:

• To work with federal and state lawmakers to fully and fairly enforce the Act;
• To promote proper implementation of Section 271 requirements;
• To focus on efforts to promote consumer and business access to advanced technologies—and break the Bells and GTE’s "broadband bottleneck";
• To help foster fast and fair interconnection agreements for new competitors; and
• To work to resolve universal service and access issues to achieve better pricing levels—and as a result, better rates for consumers and businesses.

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