WASHINGTON-The Competitive Telecommunications Association, also known as CompTel,
planned to celebrate the third anniversary of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 Feb. 8 with a celebration including
blasts of confetti, balloons, the Morehouse University Marching Band and more than 1,800 participants, including
William Kennard, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
“The [telecom] act is through the
‘terrible twos.’ It is now in full toddlerhood,” said CompTel President H. Russell Frisby.
CompTel represents
mostly wireline companies trying to break into the local telephony market. Its 15 wireless carrier-members include
AT&T Corp., Northern Telecom Inc., L.M. Ericsson and Cellular One. There are no plans to recruit more wireless
members since CompTel is focused on acquiring members from the Internet Protocol industry, Frisby said.
