More and more, I find myself agreeing with FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. However, even as I write that, I’m not necessarily comfortable with the claim.
It generally has been my experience that political mavericks like Mr. Furchtgott-Roth are disruptive to the democratic process. They are quick to point out-in quotable quotes that make good copy-problems, but slow to offer sensible compromises that actually get voted into law.
Nevertheless, a month ago, when Furchtgott-Roth said competition was here and the FCC is no longer needed, I chuckled, yet respected his underlying logic. There is more than a semblance of truth to his thinking.
We live in a world where the majority of people would like some form of gun control passed, but Congress doesn’t listen. We live in a world where after all our nuclear secrets were stolen by China, Congress passed a (meaningless?) law to make it easier to launch space vehicles in this nation to the delight of very few.
We live in a world where it takes the FCC more than a year to scrutinize the potential merger between SBC Communications Inc. and Ameritech Corp., but only a few months to study the deal between AT&T Corp. and Tele-Communications Inc. Those who fear monopolies have as much to fear from powerhouses like AT&T/TCI as they do from two regional Bell companies combining their footprints.
As a free-market economist, Furchtgott-Roth believes competition will do more to keep American companies in check than any regulations.
And although it might be scary to loosen our traditional system of checks and balances, the grim reality is competition (granted, brought to us by Congress) has more affect on telecom players than any silly old laws. After all, laws can be fought (and fought and fought) in courts. Fights in the marketplace tend to require a quick response.
Witness SBC’s stupid idea to start charging for cellular phone calls in 15-second increments in Boston. After the Boston Globe ran a story saying customers would be charged every time their phone rang about six times and the recipient didn’t answer it, callers deluged the carrier with complaints. In less than a week, Cellular One, the local SBC, dropped the plan.
In today’s world where Internet access and instant communications bring consumers more knowledge than ever before, complaints will do more to keep the SBCs of the world in line than anything else.
God bless America.
