The top ten CLECs have switches in 132 cities in 33 states, nearly all of which have been installed since passage of the Act. CLECs tripled their customer lines in 1997 to about 1.5 million . And there is clearly some momentum here. As residential consumers know, however, the level of choice and competition is quite low as compared to business consumers. Clearly, much greater efforts need to be made in the residential telephone market.
Good news is on the horizon.
As reported in yesterday's USA Today , half of the 20 million households living in big apartment buildings and other clustered communities will have a choice of local telephone service providers within the next two years. Much of the work requires a new federal-state relationship. There may not be a single blueprint for introducing competition into local exchange markets. The Administration applauds the FCC's commitment to work intensively with State regulatory commissions as the Commission grapples with the challenges before it. Thus, the interconnection order will continue to guide negotiating parties and State commissions as they fashion reasonable and procompetitive interconnection agreements.