This background briefing paper was drafted by the Massachusetts TechnologyCollaborative to help the Mass Broadband Initiative advisory committee understand the contextof several important regulatory issues affecting Verizon and its competitors, not only inMassachusetts but in the country as a whole. These issues have taken on added importance as thecurrent economic downturn has led to the bankruptcy or downsizing of many Competitive LocalExchange Carriers (CLECs), which were established to compete directly with Verizon and theother Baby Bells (Qwest, BellSouth, and SBC Communications).The troubles in the CLEC industry have rippled back into the telecommunicationsequipment industry (including companies in Massachusetts), and have raised the bar for localInternet access projects (such as those represented on our Mass Broadband Initiative advisorycommittee), which are organized to create facilities-based competition at the local level.
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