AT&T Reaction To House Vote On Tauzin-Dingell Bill
We are, of course, disappointed that the House has today passed the Dingell-Tauzin
bill, an unjustifiable and unwarranted giveaway to the Bell monopolies.
This legislation,
if it ever became law, would be a public policy disaster, and would allow the Bells to extend their monopoly control to all forms of telephone service as well
as DSL. The losers would be any company that believed in the promises of the Telecom
Act and has struggled to compete-along with millions of consumers who would face no choices, deteriorating service, and higher prices. Fortunately, however, this
legislation faces a bleak future in the Senate. In fact, as it leaves the House, Tauzin-Dingell is truly “dead man walking.”
What impresses us, however, is that, despite a year of monopoly muscle and pressure, and despite a process that had been rigged by the Bells to ensure confusion and to deny a fair shake to their opponents, 173 members of the House nonetheless registered strong opposition to Tauzin-Dingell in the key vote of
the debate. Those members have our thanks for standing tall in the face of incredible pressure.
Thankfully, leading Senators in both parties, led by Sen. Hollings, have no use for this legislation. They are joined by state governors, utility regulators, consumer groups, ISPs, the entire competitive industry, and a flood of newspaper editorials-all determined to expose the fundamental lie at the core of this bill. For the future of consumer choice in broadband, we can only hope this bill has achieved its 15 minutes of fame, and will now die a quiet-and well
deserved– death.
The foregoing are "forward-looking statements" which are based on management’s beliefs as well as on a number of assumptions concerning future events made by and information currently available to management. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside AT&T’s control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. For a more detailed
description of the factors that could cause such a difference, please see AT&T’s
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. AT&T disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This information
is presented solely to provide additional information to further understand the results of AT&T.
For more information, reporters may contact:
Claudia Jones – AT&T
202-457-3933 (office)
Jim McGann – AT&T
202-457-3942 (office)
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