Are You Better Off Today Than You Were Ten Years Ago? Residential Consumers and Telecommunications Reform

I. INTRODUCTION II. BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT III. CONSUMER PROTECTION IV. ACCESSIBILITY V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION Five years ago I asked this question about the Telecommunications Act of 1996 ("1996 Act") and concluded that most residential consumers would say: "I am worse off, much worse off. My bills are higher, and the whole mess is a lot more confusing. And I don't have all those choices that people talked so much about." (1) Today, another five years have passed, and it is now ten years after the passage of the 1996 Act. I think on balance that the answer for most consumers is going to be different, in part. They would still say, "The whole mess is totally confusing." On the other hand, I think consumers are more likely to think that they do have real choices and that, while they may be buying more services, they do have more ways to save money. The truth about the 1996 Act is that it was an analog bill. The zen of the 1996 Act is radio waves, not digital Is and 0s. Its core codified the key provision and regiment of the 1984 divestiture order that broke up the original ATT there is no GTE; Verizon has acquired MCI; and the AT&T parent has been taken over by its SBC offspring. Cable companies are offering Internet and telephony services and local phone companies are offering long distance, Internet, and video services. In addition, the explosion of Wi-Fi and Wi-Max has revolutionized the traditional way of doing business. The Internet and wireless calling plans have made distance and geographic boundaries irrelevant. New and converging technologies have fostered the proliferation of communication options that were not even imagined ten years ago. This progress in consumer choice and cost savings has been achieved in spite of the 1996 Act, not because of it. Nonetheless, critical gaps remain in areas that require forward thinking and decisive action. As the Chairman of TRAC, (2) a nonprofit membership organization devoted to promoting and advocating for the interests of residential telecommunications customers, I want to focus on three issues: broadband deployment, accessibility, and consumer protections. II. BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT The 1996 Act set a national goal of universal access to advanced telecommunications capability and directed the FCC and each state's telecommunications commission to encourage deployment on a reasonable and timely basis. Ten years later, we can see progress, but we are still a long way from the goal. Broadband--true broadband with speeds of a gigabit or more in both directions--can transform lives. For residential consumers, it can provide much more than shopping and entertainment. Broadband can bring better health care, open economic and educational opportunities, promote independent living, and increase democratic participation. If the benefits of true broadband communication are to be enjoyed by all Americans, policymakers must move from debate to reshaping our current policies. New legislation is needed that will factor in the dynamic nature of both technology and industry to promote ubiquitous broadband deployment on a neutral basis. We must learn from the short-sighted approach of 1996 and build in flexibility so that investment and innovation can thrive. III. CONSUMER PROTECTION Existing consumer protections should be safeguarded and extended to new technologies in response to the consumer confusion and vulnerability created by the complexity of today's marketplace. …