SBC Lobbies For Unrestricted Broadband Offerings

SBC Communications Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre used the keynote at SuperComm 2001 here to rail against regulatory laws that block telecommunications service providers from offering long-distance high-speed Internet services.

In addition to creating obstacles to entering competitive long-distance markets, the regulations stemming from the Telecommunications Act unfairly prevent SBC and other Baby Bells from offering DSL and other high-speed Internet services to customers outside of their territories, he said.

"The broadband market is facing the same kind of road blocks" as the long-distance markets, Whitacre said.

Whitacre directed most of his competitive concerns at the cable industry, which is unencumbered by competitive restrictions in the broadband market.

"Cable operators currently dominate the broadband market, serving 75 percent of all residential customers," he said.

Whitacre is supporting the Tauzin/Dingell legislation, a proposal being debated in Congress that would allow the Bells to offer long-distance broadband without opening their networks to competitors. Current law prohibits the Bells from offering long-distance data and voice services in their home areas until they can prove that their local networks are open to competitors.

"I would be the first to say it faces a very tough road ahead in Congress," Whitacre said.

While refraining from commenting on the issue specifically, Michael Powell, the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said open competition in emerging technologies is his preference. "I am guided by the view that we will let the markets pick the winners and losers, not government policy," he said.