PUBLIC-INTEREST GROUPS ASK FCC TO RE-REGULATE SPECIAL ACCESS NOW

摘要

The FCC should immediately re-regulate the special access market, said Public Knowledge, the Media Access Project, the New America Foundation and U.S. PIRG. In a letter to acting Chairman Michael Copps, the public interest groups said the commission's 2000 decision to deregulate the market "has resulted in higher prices and market dominance by incumbent providers such as Qwest, AT&T and Verizon." A request by USTelecom for the FCC to collect additional information is "a transparent delaying tactic designed to prolong for as long as possible the extraction of monopoly rents by its members," they said. A USTelecom spokesman said "it's somewhat ironic that Public Knowledge is asking the FCC to take action without the knowledge and data necessary to make an informed decision on such a complex and important issue." The deregulatory policy has resulted in $120 billion in private- sector investment over the past two years, he said. "We should be focusing constructively together on continuing this investment, not reverting to failed policies that held it back."