[June 5, 2001]

"HR 1542 will not deregulate telecommunications. Instead, it will undeniably do the following:

Bill Leads to Re-Regulation, Not De-Regulation

First, it will allow the monopoly Bells to crush their remaining CLEC opposition and extend their monopoly from end to end: from local service to long distance to fast Internet connections, or broadband.

Second, it will lead us straight back to remonopolization and re-regulation – back to the conditions that existed before the breakup of AT&T in 1984. If the Tauzin bill becomes law, and the Bells, as expected, eviscerate their opposition by leveraging their local monopoly, you here today know as well as I do that Congress will not stand by and allow such a powerful monopolist – either a single company or four regionals, or somewhere in between – to set prices, quality and extent of service. Congress will step in, as it should, with strict mandates. We will be right back where we started. Already, we have seen an amendment added to HR 1542 in the Commerce Committee’s markup that sets a deployment timetable. All I can say is: Here we go again. Perhaps it is well intended, but the Tauzin-Dingell bill is an act of re-regulation, not de-regulation. "

—James K. Glassman Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute