One would think that a former Illinois Commerce Commission chairman and current telecommunications industry consultant would better understand the intent of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. But in his guest column “Promises, promises: What local phone competition?” (Commentary, March 12), Terrence Barnich incorrectly paints a rosy picture of the state of local phone competition and misses what public policymakers envisioned for the Telecom Act.
Perhaps Barnich’s thinking has been clouded after years of serving as a consultant to SBC/Ameritech, supporting the merger of SBC and Ameritech, and defending the Texas-based monopoly during its service meltdown in 2000. What he refers to as his “Pollyannaish assessment” of local phone competition is just that. How anyone could look at the state of local competition and think it’s living up to the vision of the Telecom Act is beyond me.
A central tenet of the Telecom Act was to bring real choice and competition to the local phone market. Public policymakers and industry experts recognized that the Bells’ control of the “last mile of wire” into homes and businesses could be a major impediment to the emergence of a competitive market. To address the issue of the “last mile,” the law requires the Bells to provide competitors with access to the existing network of wires and switches used to provide local phone service. Nowhere in the law does it suggest that a parallel network should immediately be built, as Barnich insinuates.
Instead of looking inward to the anti-competitive practices of his clients, Barnich blames the bankruptcies of many competitive local phone companies on “irrational exuberance.” But if competitive companies were guilty of anything irrational, it was only in their belief that the Bell monopolies like SBC/Ameritech would actually abide by the law and open the network to competition.
More than $80 million in fines levied repeatedly by the Illinois Commerce Commission and Federal Communications Commission since July 2000 should be proof enough that SBC/Ameritech considers breaking the law just another cost of doing business. SBC/Ameritech continues to dominate more than 90 percent of the local phone marketplace in Illinois. If one were to “read below the headlines,” as Barnich suggests we do, it is clear that SBC/Ameritech’s business strategy is based on blocking competition. As a result, competing phone companies are finding it nearly impossible to win customers and stay in business. So as Barnich offers his opinion of the state of local phone competition, at least we can agree on one thing: His assessment is indeed “Pollyannaish.”