[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 10 (Tuesday, February 8, 2000)]
[House]
[Page H226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1996 TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

  (Mr. CONYERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, we all know that monopolies do not serve 
the public interest; they keep prices high, limit consumer choice, and 
fail to innovate. In 1996, in an effort to break up the entrenched 
local phone monopolies, Congress overwhelmingly passed the 
Telecommunications Act. I am happy to commemorate the 4-year 
anniversary of that Act.
  The theory of the 1996 law is simple: in order to encourage local 
phone monopolies to open their local networks to competition, the Bells 
would be permitted to enter the long-distance market, but only when 
their local markets were open and competitive. Four years after its 
passage, there is substantial evidence that the 1996 act is working. 
But the local phone market is still not as competitive as we would 
like. There are competitive local carriers growing rapidly, both in 
terms of revenue and market capitalization; but they still compromise 
only 5 percent of the market. And worse still, the Bells even refuse to 
provide competitors with the necessary network access.

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