Bell companies battle cable firms for lines

WASHINGTON -- The four regional Bell telephone companies are about to get a vote in Congress on whether they can sell high-speed Internet access without letting competitors use their networks.

Legislation before the House this week would undo parts of a 1996 law that forced the Bells to open those networks to competitors at a reasonable cost. The phone companies say Internet access is a new service that requires new rules.

"With the millions of dollars that we invest to upgrade to provide a service that is a direct competitor and a similar service to cable modem, we should operate under the same rules," SBC Communications vice president Tim McKone said.

Compared to regular dial-up service, broadband Internet is nearly 2,000 times faster and can deliver a wider range of services, including high-quality video. Broadband can be provided through cable or through telephone wires that have been transformed into digital subscriber lines, or DSL.

Only 12 percent of consumers who could get broadband have signed up, though, discouraged by high prices and reports of service problems.

The bill's sponsors, Reps. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and John Dingell, D-Mich., say it will increase competition among broadband providers, boosting quality and lowering prices, and bring the service to more rural areas.

Cable providers, AT&T, consumer groups and state utility regulators say it would mean higher prices for consumers, and that the deployment of broadband is proceeding just fine without the bill.

Monopoly claim

"This bill is a proposal by the four Bell operating companies to reclaim the monopoly they had until 1996 and desperately want to reclaim in order to regain their status as monopoly providers to consumers," said Jason Oxman, vice president of broadband provider Covad.

Even under current regulations, the telephone companies -- SBC, Verizon Communications, BellSouth and Qwest -- are adding an impressive number of new customers considering the tight economic times.