Bell Atlantic Says Clear Away Restrictive Regulations That Threaten Growth of the Internet
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Bell Atlantic Says Clear Away Restrictive
Regulations That Threaten Growth of the
Internet
Senior Vice President Tauke Testifies before House
Subcommittee
June 24, 1999
| Media contact: | Susan Butta, |
WASHINGTON -- Bell Atlantic Senior Vice President Tom Tauke told
members of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and
Consumer Protection today to "let the Internet thrive." At a
hearing on deployment of data services, Tauke told the Subcommittee that
policy makers must avoid applying old regulatory models to an entirely
new, competitive technology.
Tauke encouraged committee Members to look at the "wireless
model." Just as the Internet is using part of the existing
infrastructure, the wireless industry came forward and used part of an
existing technology. In that case, Congress and the FCC endeavored to set
up a new regulatory environment for an emerging technology.
"They decided to enact limited regulations so that new technology
would be deployed," Tauke said. "And indeed that's what
happened. The new technology was deployed. It was deployed much
faster than was predicted and has led to great competition in that arena.
"As a result wireless consumers have seen prices go down and
services expand," Tauke said. "An infrastructure that was
built for voice services and has been used for some simple data services --
like downloading text -- now is being challenged in a whole new way. The
challenge is to get the infrastructure out there that will meet the needs of
the new economy."
Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 43 million telephone access lines and nine
million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.