July 12, 2001
Will YOU Pay More for Internet Access? (URGENT ACTION NEEDED!)
You probably haven't heard of the congressional bill HR-1542, also known as the Tauzin-Dingell bill, but its ramifications would seriously affect the price YOU pay for Internet service and the future of PortONE Internet. For your own benefit, take a moment to have a serious look as this issue, TAKE ACTION right away and pass this information on to a friend, business associate or family member, regardless of whom they use for Internet access! This bill is expected to go before the entire House of Representative in mid-July.
Most Americans get their Internet access from small, local Internet Service Providers (ISPs). There are over 7000 ISPs in the U.S.; most of them are small, local businesses with only a few thousand customers each. Those smaller ISPs give Internet subscribers' good prices and great service.
The four Bell mega-monopolies, with their combined capitalization of half a trillion dollars, are now playing hardball against the local ISPs. In just the last few years, they have grabbed 75% of the market for DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) high-speed Internet service. They are dominating the market not by making a better offer than the independent ISPs, but by once again using their control of the local network to drive competitors out.
"Total monopoly. Total domination. That's all the Bells know," said a frustrated Sue Ashdown, president of the American ISP Association. "They've never understood competition and they don't want to. Their whole mind-set is about preserving what they have and keeping everyone else out."
The challenge for you, the consumer, and independent ISPs (like PortONE Internet), is that since every Bell now has its own Internet subsidiary, ISPs who need to lease high-speed capacity from their local Bell are actually dealing with a huge and powerful competitor, with predictable results. Just last year the price of our 100's of incoming modem phone lines, which you use when to dial into our service, was raised by SNET/SBC by 30%, which required us to increase our pricing, in turn!
One of the components of this bill is that it will eliminate regulation of what the Bells can charge ISPs for the necessary incoming modem phone lines you use every time you dial-up to the Internet. Some estimates suggest that Bell rates to ISPs could as much as triple. This would effectively eliminate all competition since most independent ISPs would be forced to close their doors, leaving you, the average consumer, with few options and higher prices!
The bottom line is that the Internet services industry is in the process of being monopolized by the Bells, in direct defiance of the Telecom Act of 1996. If the Bells are allowed to re-impose the monopoly on the whole telecom market, the first thing that will go is affordable Internet access. This is because there would be essentially no competition as the four huge Bell companies force the local ISPs to disappear. If the ISPs go, it is expected that the average family will face an increase of up to 35% on its monthly Internet access bill (regardless of whom their current ISP is), with even bigger increases for rural areas.
The Tauzin-Dingell legislation is a blatant power grab by the Bells that will leave the average consumer with higher Internet fees, dealing with less responsive big-business customer service, and totally dependent on an enlarged Bell monopoly for all telecom services.
Take it from any one of America's 100 million Internet users... This legislation is a bad deal for EVERYONE except for four giant Bell companies who have lobbied for the bill.
