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CWA: Tauzin-Dingell Bill Will Boost Jobs, Investment, Economy
Washington, D.C.-- Communications Workers of America President Morton Bahr is calling on the House of Representatives to jumpstart the economy by adopting the Tauzin-Dingell bill, also known as the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act, H.R. 1542.
This bill would eliminate artificial regulatory barriers for providing broadband service to customers and would bolster the economy at an especially critical time for our nation, Bahr said.
"High tech communications has been a leading growth engine in our economy for several years, and the decline in this sector was a major cause of the current recession. This bill will provide an economic stimulus that won't cost taxpayers anything, but it will boost investment and competition in the Internet backbone market and data network systems, spurring our economic recovery," Bahr said.
Currently, cable companies dominate the market in providing high speed, digital subscriber line service, but, along with long distance companies, have fallen far short of meeting customer demand for quality service. The Bell operating companies are the only providers that must abide by complex, telephone-era industry regulation that is holding back the establishment of new, high-speed data networks, CWA noted.
"This bill recognizes that data travel across interconnected networks without making a distinction between local and long distance providers," Bahr said in a letter to House members. It will create competition among high speed data networks – cable, DSL, wireless and satellite – that will drive innovation, lower prices, enhance consumer choice and create more good jobs, he noted.
The bill also sets a timetable to provide DSL and advanced Internet services to rural and other now underserved areas, expanding on universal service and enabling many more Americans to take advantage of the benefits of high speed Internet service, Bahr noted. It does not affect other requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act that the Bell operating companies must meet for long distance telephony or the unbundling and interconnection rules for local voice networks, he pointed out.
Passing the Tauzin-Dingell bill will help bring broadband service to millions of Americans, will create new jobs and will mean expanded investment in our technology and communications sectors. This is the key to the economic turnaround our country needs, Bahr stressed.
This bill would eliminate artificial regulatory barriers for providing broadband service to customers and would bolster the economy at an especially critical time for our nation, Bahr said.
"High tech communications has been a leading growth engine in our economy for several years, and the decline in this sector was a major cause of the current recession. This bill will provide an economic stimulus that won't cost taxpayers anything, but it will boost investment and competition in the Internet backbone market and data network systems, spurring our economic recovery," Bahr said.
Currently, cable companies dominate the market in providing high speed, digital subscriber line service, but, along with long distance companies, have fallen far short of meeting customer demand for quality service. The Bell operating companies are the only providers that must abide by complex, telephone-era industry regulation that is holding back the establishment of new, high-speed data networks, CWA noted.
"This bill recognizes that data travel across interconnected networks without making a distinction between local and long distance providers," Bahr said in a letter to House members. It will create competition among high speed data networks – cable, DSL, wireless and satellite – that will drive innovation, lower prices, enhance consumer choice and create more good jobs, he noted.
The bill also sets a timetable to provide DSL and advanced Internet services to rural and other now underserved areas, expanding on universal service and enabling many more Americans to take advantage of the benefits of high speed Internet service, Bahr noted. It does not affect other requirements of the 1996 Telecommunications Act that the Bell operating companies must meet for long distance telephony or the unbundling and interconnection rules for local voice networks, he pointed out.
Passing the Tauzin-Dingell bill will help bring broadband service to millions of Americans, will create new jobs and will mean expanded investment in our technology and communications sectors. This is the key to the economic turnaround our country needs, Bahr stressed.