US West says companies like Electric Lightwave wants to pick off lucrative business customers, thus increasing the cost of telephone service to residential and rural users. In passing the Telecommunications Act, Congress concluded that most consumers will be better served by competitive telephone markets rather than monopoly-provided service. State utility regulators have established safety nets to make sure that poorer and rural customers still have access to telephone services even in a competitive marketplace. Electric Lightwave contributes to those programs, as does US West and other providers of local telephone service. The bottom line, though, is that consumers win when robust competition replaces monopolies.
Competition brings prices down and increases consumer choice.