Author: JT Smith
joabj writes: “There was a story in yesterday’s U.S.A. Today on the growing controversy over the Tauzin & Dingell Bill, which is claimed to speed broadband rollout. This bill would free up regional bell operating systems (RBOCs) to get into the long-distance market without opening their local lines for competiting carriers first, a stipulation now in place as per the 1996 Telecommunications Reform act. Huh? So what does long distance have to do with broadband? Follow this one if you can: The RBOCs behind the bill claim that the once their local lines are open to competiting DSL providers, the infrastructure investment needed to upgrade for DSL won’t be cost-effective. Maybe, but I still don’t see what that has to do with long distance. Just sounds to me like “waaah, the cable companies have a monopoly on their conduits. We want one too!””
