The top executives of several competitive telecommunications companies join forces today on Capitol Hill to tell congressional leaders that the flawed Tauzin-Dingell bill, if passed, would have a negative impact on the economy and jobs, while preempting states' rights.
The Tauzin-Dingell Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act (H.R. 1542) will be brought to a vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representative Feb. 27. The vote on the controversial proposal, which would give the Bell operating companies (BOCs) certain regulatory relief from the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to deliver data services, is expected to be close. However, once it reaches the U.S. Senate, Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest “Fritz” Hollings (D-S.C.) has promised to kill it.
“We are in the midst of a grassroots blitz to inform Congress that the competition-killing Tauzin-Dingell bill is not in the public’s interest," says H. Russell Frisby Jr., president of the Competitive Telecommunications Association (CompTel, www.comptel.org). "Our members are actively meeting, calling and writing members of Congress to voice their opposition to the bill."
As part of the grassroots efforts, the Association for Local Telecommunications Services (ALTS, www.alts.org), CompTel, and the Voices for Choices coalition (www.voicesforchoices.org) will sponsor a "CLEC Showcase" Feb. 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., on the first floor of the Rayburn House Office Building.
At 12:30 p.m., there will be a press event, in which members of Congress and select industry executives will deliver brief remarks and be available for further comment.
"These CLEC executives have come to Washington to demonstrate the enormous investments they have made in building advanced broadband networks in the last six years," says John D. Windhausen Jr., president of ALTS. "Once they meet our executives, House members may feel awfully uncomfortable voting to support a bill designed to put these entrepreneurial, competitive companies out of business."
Executives scheduled to attend include:
1. James F. Geiger, president and CEO, Cbeyond Communications LLC (www.cbeyond.com).
2. Steve Dubnik, chairman, president and CEO, Choice One Communications Inc. (www.choiceonecom.com).
3. Robert C. Taylor Jr., chairman and CEO, Focal Communications Corp. (www.focal.com).
4. Roscoe C. Young II, president and COO, KMC Telecom (www.kmctelecom.com).
5. Clark E. McLeod, chairman, McLeodUSA Inc. (www.mcleodusa.com).
6. Arunas A. Chesonis, chairman and CEO, PaeTec Communications Inc.(www.paetec.com).
7. Dhruv Khanna, executive vice president and general counsel, Covad Communications Co. (www.covad.com).
8. George F. Schmitt, chairman and acting CEO, e.spire Communications Inc. (www.espire.net).
The Rayburn House Office Building is located at Independence Ave. and South Capitol Street in Washington, D.C.
