February 11, 2002 -- On February 8, 1996, President Clinton signed into law the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the first major reform of the country's telecommunications laws in more than 50 years.

On the sixth anniversary of that Act, the Voices for Choices coalition unveiled a new database cataloging $1.84 billion in announced fines, judgments and settlements against the country's four local phone giants (and their predecessors) for poor service, anti- consumer practices, failure to live up to their promises and other reasons.

"It's time to chronicle the stunning six-year record of Bell company fines," said VFC co-chairman Steve Ricchetti. "And what's particularly striking is that their incredible poor performance and anti-consumer behavior has not been confined to any one company or one region. It's been a truly nationwide problem."

During the same period that the Bell giants were assessed $1.84 billion in fines, they brought in more than $851 billion in revenues. So the fines represented only about two-tenths of a percent of total revenue during that period. As Merrill Lynch analyst Ken Hoexter told investors last December about Bell giant SBC, "As long as the cost of violating merger agreements is below the cost of allowing competitors to enter the market, it continues to be cheaper (for SBC) to pay the government for violating certain performance targets versus completely opening up the local markets to competitors."

The database, which will be constantly updated, contains details about announced fines and levies from federal (i.e., FCC) regulators, as well as from state public utilities commissions, local officials and courts.

"What's striking about this is the sheer volume of infractions stemming from the Bells' bad behavior. Their refusal to abide by law and their own promises has curbed consumer choice in every region of the country -- indeed, almost every state," said U.S. Rep. John Conyers (MI), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. "The Bells will likely try to justify some of these, but collectively, the weight of these repeated sanctions simply cannot be explained away."

At the enactment of the 1996 Telecommunications Act there were eight local phone monopolies, which have since consolidated into four. Federal law mandates that these companies allow competitors fair access to the local networks, which were built during decades of de jure monopoly.

"For six years, the Bell companies have repeatedly thrown up roadblocks to fair competition -- thus denying consumers the significant benefits of competition," said co-chairman Charlie Black.

Black noted that "In New Jersey, Verizon has the unbelievable history of charging more for wholesale prices on resale service than for the average basic retail rate itself." In New York, the company had much the same practice, until it was repudiated last month by the state Public Utilities Commission.

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