WASHINGTON-In another salvo in the war to reform the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.), ranking Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, introduced legislation that would require all regional Bell operating companies to open their markets enough to pass the 14-point checklist by Feb. 8, 2001.
If the RBOCs do not comply with the checklist, Hollings’ bill allows for fines of $100,000 for each day they are not in compliance.
The RBOCs are required to meet the checklist before entering the long-distance business. Bell Atlantic Corp. recently asked for another delay before filing an application to offer long-distance services in New York. All of the previous RBOC attempts to offer long-distance-in Michigan, Oklahoma, South Carolina and twice in Louisiana-have been rejected by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC said in each case that the checklist had not been met.
“Since passage of the [telecom act], the Baby Bells have been consolidating and litigating instead of opening the local markets to competition and preparing to enter the long-distance market. Ignoring the 14-point checklist to stop fair competition in the local market will no longer be tolerable … By requiring a date certain by which the local phone monopolies must open their markets, and by accompanying that requirement with federal enforcement authority, we can be assured that American consumers will obtain the benefits of local competition,” said Hollings.
