The Broadband Bill of Rights

A prominent telecom activist estimates that up to 50 percent of all ISPs receive substandard service from RBOCs. If you're fed up with the Baby Bells monopolistic mischief-making, add your name to the list and co-sign The BroadBand Bill of Rights.

by Bruce Kushnick Executive Director New Networks Institute [February 12, 2001]

The facts are clear—the Baby Bells are still monopolies and they are unfairly using their market dominance to control DSL and local telecom competition. Also, their long-standing promises to deploy advanced network services and facilities remains unfulfilled, even though the Bells were able to leverage these promises to hold onto decades old high retail rates, which continue today.

We believe the Bells' practices are harming America's economic growth, not to mention phone and DSL customers. It's time to enforce the Telecom Act—and amend it if need be. Don't let the Baby Bells kill America's broadband future.

This document sets out the Broadband Bill of Rights—statements of law and policy that are to some extent already inherent in state and federal telecommunications law. These ideals seem to have been lost in the shuffle of Bell mega-mergers and their relentless efforts to stonewall local competition.

These rights should be reaffirmed by state and federal legislators and regulators, and should be implemented immediately. This statement of rights was created with the help of Joe Bruce Kushnick, Executive Director of New Networks Institute, Joe Plotkin, Director of Marketing/DSL, Bwaynet, two respected Washington lawyers who shall remain nameless, George Mason, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine.

ANNOTATION: From the customer perspective the rollout of DSL access has been a nightmare. Imagine going into a store to order a toaster and only to be told "We are not sure that the toaster is in stock. We don't know if we can order it for you. It may take months before we can tell you whether we will ever have the model you want available." In short, there are no guarantees that the DSL service is available in your area or that it will be available anytime soon.

The major problem is that DSL services is transported over old copper wiring that for the most part, has not been sufficiently upgraded. Many customers are told there are "No Facilities," meaning that even in prime markets like New York City—including Silicon Alley the epicenter of New York's high-tech industry—the phone company has not upgraded its networks to sustain adequate high-speed services.

There are also distance limitations. If you live over 15,000 feet from a central office, which is a network aggregator of phone services in a neighborhood, you cannot get ADSL service.

The irony of this situation is that in many states the Baby Bells promised to deploy fiber-optic services to entire states—including homes, offices, schools and libraries. Though there has been some fiber added to Bell networks, DSL is not compatible with fiber—and the Bells never fulfilled their plans to rewire homes or offices with glass.

• Choice of speed and product (SDSL, ADSL, T-1, etc.)
• Choice of vendor (Local ISP, National ISP, CLEC, Building-CLEC, ILEC, Cable MSO, etc.)
• Choice of technology or platform (cable modem, DSL, wireless)

ANNOTATION: Today, Baby Bell rivals are the only companies that offer two-way DSL access. The Bells offer ADSL service—the A stands for asymmetric, meaning one-way. The speed to from the customer to the network is much slower, than the speed from the network to the customer. Therefore, if competitors have trouble delivering service, then the only choice American consumers' have may be the Bell's ADSL offering.

ANNOTATION: DSL setups have proven to be a nightmare for businesses and consumers alike. Many installation orders take weeks or even months to be fulfilled. On the competitive side, the problems that Internet service providers or competitive DSL providers face when placing an order are even more severe.

Surveys of ISPs reveal that Baby Bells rarely fulfill orders in a timely manner. For example, about 50 percent of all DSL orders placed in New York got lost in the ozone.

Common problems include "no shows," where the Baby Bell misses the appointment altogether or an unprepared technician is unable to complete the installation on the set date. (To read about the problems Internet Providers face please review the NNI Survey of Internet Service Providers From Texas and New York.)

Today, there are no laws that fully protect customers or competitors from this type of monopolistic abuse.

ANNOTATION: We believe that consumers should have a guaranteed right to broadband services, regardless of whether they live in an urban or rural area.

• A transparent system and user-friendly system to determine service availability so consumer can make reasonable choices about what services to order.
• Easy and user-friendly access to accurate information regarding the state of the particular supplier's physical infrastructure that will be used to provide service.

ANNOTATION: Today, there are no databases available to tell either the customer or the competitor whether the Bell can supply DSL service. It's estimated that in New York only 16 percent of all phone lines have adequate information available detailing if the line is conditioned and available for DSL access. This substandard situation seems to be identical to other regions of the country.

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