Outlook grim for telecom carriers' broadband bill.(Brief Article)

Pacific Bell and other incumbent telecommunications carriers are pushing Congress to free their data services from regulatory constraints, but the bill they've pinned their hopes on now seems destined to fail.

The broadband bill sponsored by republican Billy Tauzin of Louisiana and democrat John Dingell of Michigan would deregulate data services, freeing regional Bells such as Pacific Bell from the requirements of the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

The regional Bells call such deregulation critical because it will allow them to compete on equal footing against cable broadband companies, which are unfettered by such restrictions. Among other things, incumbent carriers must allow competitors access to their networks while cable operators have no such requirement today.

"The cable modem industry is completely unregulated, but for a bunch of historical reasons, the phone companies when they provide DSL are heavily regulated," said Paul Mancini, vice president and assistant general counsel for Pacific Bell's parent SBC Communications.

Mancini notes that cable accounts for nearly 70 percent of the broadband market, compared to less than 30 percent for DSL. "What Tazuin-Dingell does is rectify that and provide some regulatory parity and try to promote investment and competition."

AT&T, a cable broadband provider and an outspoken opponent of the legislation, scoffs at the claims that incumbents such as SBC are concerned about leveling the playing field. Instead, they say, the regional Bells just want to make it harder for smaller carriers to compete for what is the fastest-growing portion of telecommunications services. If passed, the bill would make it more difficult and expensive for competitive carriers and independent Internet ...