Are you better off today than you were ten years ago? Residential consumers and telecommunications reform.

• Author: Simon, Samuel A.
• Position: Telecommunications Act of 1996: Ten Years Later Symposium

1. 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 AT&T, known as the Modification of Final Judgment ("MFJ"). In other words, the 1996 Act cemented in place structures and rules designed to assure that the analog world of telephone as reorganized by the courts of antitrust remained in place during the transition to a more competitive marketplace.

   The world is a very different place now. In 1996, seven Bell companies and GTE were the dominant providers of local service and 90% of all long distance traffic was carried by AT&T, MCI, and Sprint. Today, there are three Bell companies; 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...