Tuesday, April 30, 2002

WASHINGTON (April 30) – Legislation to encourage the widespread deployment and use of broadband technology was introduced today by Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Don Nickles (R-Ok.), who both serve in Senate leadership positions.

The "Broadband Regulatory Parity Act of 2002" will ensure regulatory parity among all providers of high-speed – also known as broadband – Internet access and services.

Currently, four competing technologies can provide consumers with high-speed Internet access: cable modem, digital subscriber lines (DSL), fixed wireless and satellite. Only DSL, provided by incumbent telephone companies is highly regulated and must satisfy federal and state requirements.

Cable modem providers control 70 percent of the competitive broadband market, but are virtually unregulated. Telephone companies, with less than 30 percent market share, are subject to strict regulatory requirements.

"To ensure and encourage the widespread deployment of broadband networks in this country, Congress must level the regulatory playing field in the broadband market," said Sen. Breaux, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee. "The rapid deployment of broadband technology is vital to our national interest, and will jump start investment and stimulate job creation in the important telecommunications industry, which lost more than 300,000 jobs in the last year alone."

“High-speed connections to the Internet can provide a lifeline to small businesses, schools and hospitals, and can help communities prosper and grow in the Information Age,” Sen. Nickles said. “Unfortunately, different rules for competing high-speed Internet companies are stifling competition. This bill aims to make regulations more simple and more fair, insisting that all broadband service providers play by the same rules.”

The "Breaux-Nickles" bill will subject providers of broadband services and broadband access services to the same regulatory requirements as other players in the broadband market. The legislation identifies the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as the appropriate authority to determine which regulatory requirements - if any - should be retained and which should be eliminated. It requires the FCC to issue regulations within 120 days of the bill’s enactment.

"Breaux-Nickles" preserves consumer choice of Internet service provider (ISP’s) when using DSL provided by telephone companies by requiring them to provide all ISP’s with access to their networks. In addition, the legislation retains existing requirements that incumbent telephone companies provide competitors with access to their voice networks.