Boffins Bash Broadband Bill

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Citing a looming House vote over a controversial broadband Internet bill, two respected telecommunications economists today released a "blueprint for economic and broadband growth" white paper. Simultaneously, Robert Hall of Stanford University and William Lehr of Columbia University warned Congress and policymakers of the impact of its upcoming vote on the Tauzin-Dingell bill. "Your choice is stark: You will either continue the beneficial open market policies of current law -- or return us to the days of one-company control over telephone services and the last-mile infrastructure that connects our homes to the information highways we depend on." Entitled "Promoting Broadband Investment and Avoiding Monopoly", the paper lays out the evidence showing why the market-opening provisions in the 1996 Telecommunications Act have dramatically spurred investment into local phone service. The paper also notes that regulatory initiatives like the Tauzin-Dingell bill, which would roll back these provisions, would irreparably undercut competitive phone and broadband providers. It concludes, "Both in the short term and longer term, prospects for investment in broadband infrastructure and services are best served if we retain the pro-competitive provisions of the Telecom Act." The paper is available at www.sandhillecon.com/research.htm