December 5, 2001
The Honorable Dennis
Hastert
Speaker
U. S. House of
Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Mr. Speaker:
As you prepare to
bring H.R. 1542, the “Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001,”
to the House floor for a vote, AARP would like to share our views on the
legislation as currently drafted and, in addition, comment on recent
developments that could determine the future of broadband deployment for
residential consumers. AARP shares the
goal of Congress to accelerate the deployment of broadband services to all
consumers. However, we have concerns
with H.R. 1542 related to the expansion of competition in local and long distance
telephone service that must be corrected prior to passage.
In
April of this year, we sent a letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman
Tauzin outlining AARP’s areas of concern and expressing our interest in working
with the Committee to strengthen the legislation. We asserted our belief that residential consumers are best served
in a fully competitive marketplace. We
expressed support for full and open competition not only in local and long
distance telephone service, but also in the advanced services of broadband and
cable as well. As a means to achieve
this, we urged that legislation promoting the deployment of broadband services
incorporate the following four core principles:
·
First, the mandate that Regional Bell Operating Companies
(RBOCs) fulfill the Section 271 requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act
(the Act) prior to providing voice long distance service in a state must be
maintained.
·
Second, the continuing trend toward worsening service
quality must be reversed via tougher enforcement and stiffer penalties.
·
Third, broadband must be deployed nationwide to all
consumers, including inner city and rural residents.
·
Finally, a priority must be placed on ensuring that local
phone and broadband service facilities are accessible to competitors so that
residential customer choice becomes a reality.
A
good deal of activity has occurred in the ensuing months that has focused on
many of the concerns we raised regarding H.R. 1542, and attempts are clearly
being made to address the bill’s inadequacies.
Unfortunately,
preservation of the Section 271 market opening requirements of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 has not been one of the items where progress has
been made. Fulfilling the Section 271
checklist requirements that Congress put in place – specifically, restricting an
RBOC’s provision of interLATA voice or data services -- is an important issue
to AARP. We have been a strong
supporter of the Act, believing that residential consumers are beginning to see
promised benefits of competition. To
subvert existing law in this area would be anti-competitive; the Section 271
requirements should be maintained.
Progress
has been made, however, on the issue of service quality. AARP has expressed its concern about the
disturbing degradation in the quality of service that consumers are receiving
throughout the telecommunications industry.
The fact that consumers were already reporting frustration with the
installation and service of DSL lines in limited service areas does not bode
well for the nation-wide deployment the legislation seeks to promote. In our April letter, we supported the
inclusion of legislative language that would focus on the enforcement of
service quality standards in the provision of DSL service. Therefore, we support legislation like that
of Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI), whose bill strengthens enforcement of service
quality measures while increasing penalties for infractions. We hope that Mr. Upton’s bill is ultimately
incorporated into the legislation.
In
keeping with the ultimate goal of the legislation, a provision should be
included in H.R. 1542 requiring the “build out” of telecommunications
facilities so that all consumers have access to “reasonably comparable”
broadband services as referenced in Section 254 (b)(3) of the Act. Of specific concern are the millions of
Americans residing in rural areas and within pockets of the inner cities that
do not traditionally have the ability to subscribe to advanced
telecommunications services. A measure
ensuring access to these services should become a part of H.R. 1542.
Finally,
attempts to amend and redraft H.R. 1542 must include provisions to remove
potential impediments to the advancement of competition for local telephone and
broadband service. Despite
well-intentioned attempts to remedy the problem, the legislation continues to
put at risk the line-sharing requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act
that allow competitors into the local exchange market. Absent these requirements, it is unlikely
that a truly competitive marketplace will continue to develop, leading to
market power concerns and the attendant pressures to increase local rates for
phone and broadband services. Adding
provisions to facilitate line-sharing would prevent competition from being
foreclosed and would serve to benefit a large segment of AARP’s members.
A
step towards resolving this issue was taken this past August when Verizon
introduced its “rational regulation” plan.
The regional carrier’s plan is an attempt at bridging the gap between
the concerns of the competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) and the desires
of the incumbent local exchange companies, while addressing consumer advocates’
interest in the promotion of local exchange service competition. The key components of the plan -- retaining
regulation over voice telephony, preserving line sharing in the existing
network, treating competitive carriers as wholesale customers and ensuring that
competitive carriers have access to customers at commercially reasonable rates
-- serve to advance the debate and provide the Members of the House with a
model upon which to build. We expect to
work with all interested parties to develop the plan into legislation. Clearly, the addition of legislative
language that promotes broadband deployment without burying the competitive
carrier industry is imperative.
AARP appreciates the
efforts of the Chairman, Ranking Member and others to accelerate the deployment
of broadband technologies to a greater percentage of the population. We are in favor of efforts to close the “digital
divide” by providing residential ratepayers with the Internet access they
desire. H.R. 1542 has served as a
vehicle to reach our mutual goals; in its current form, however, it should not
be the House’s final word on this issue.
Progress is being made in addressing some of the concerns we highlighted
in our April letter and we hope that trend continues.
We look forward to
continuing to work with the Congress to find an approach that will bring
technological advances to all Americans without endangering the framework that
serves to stimulate the competitive marketplace that we all desire.
Sincerely,
William D. Novelli
Executive Director
& CEO
Cc: The Honorable
Richard Gephardt