Editorial: Don't let telecoms write law governing them
The Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus
The Moline Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus
We share the very real concern that telecom lobbyists, led by communications behemoth AT&T, will "ram through a bill, HB 6425, that's a big slap in the face to anyone who lives outside the Chicago area."
CUB's biggest objection, which we share, is that the measure as written lets AT&T off the hook from a state order to ensure that its network provide high-speed Internet access to 90 percent of its customers outside Chicagoland — including folks here in the QCA and just about every corner, and the vast middle, of the state. Telecom companies would have you believe that their industry is truly competitive. But in many areas it is not, particularly outside of large urban centers. Adds Mr. Kolata, "This should be of particular concern to residents of central and southern Illinois, as state regulators recently concluded that many areas in the land of Lincoln are 'grossly underserved.'"
Ask any company, including this one, which has tried to get the monopoly service provider to cooperate in upgrading high-speed Internet access, or at least to get out of the way of others who would, what they think and you're liable to get an earful. They know from experience that AT&T has shown little interest in any meaningful upgrade or expansion of its facilities in the Illinois Quad-Cities.
The telecom giant and its big communication company allies are calling this a jobs bill, but saying it doesn't make it so. Indeed, the rewrite will have the opposite effect if it does not require the corporate giant to provide critical technology outside of Chicago.
"Let me be clear: HB 6425 does not contain a jobs component," Mr. Kolata notes. "In fact, the bill eliminates key service-quality and Internet standards that force AT&T to make appropriate, job-creating investments in its system."
AT&T Illinois President Paul LaSchiazza insisted in a joint legislative hearing on the measure in Springfield last week that his company's bill WOULD create jobs and increase investment by his company because it would lift regulations for companies like his which provide landline. According to StateHouse News, however, he couldn't say how much his company might invest or how many jobs could be created.
He also argued that the 1985 law is badly in need of a rewrite because of technological advances like broadband Internet services and wireless phones, but the proposed rewrite does not address either and neither cell phones nor the Internet are now regulated in this state.
In addition to technological concerns, Susan Satter with the Illinois Attorney General's Office, also worries that easing land-line regulation would encourage phone companies to drop service for those who don't bundle basic service with pricier technology like Internet service.
Illinois' telecom act, written before cell phones were in regular use, DOES need an overhaul to reflect today's technological explosion. "The job creators, the users of telecommunication services, are demanding today's most contemporary, latest technology," said Doug Whitley, president and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, at a Statehouse news conference earlier this month. "We want to send a message that Illinois is open for business and that this is a place where any employer or entrepreneur ... can set up shop and know they will be successful."
It should be noted that Mr. Whitley is a former president of Ameritech of Illinois, the direct ancestor of AT&T Illinois. Still, we echo that message, but not at the expense of downstate communities whose service could be held hostage by giants like AT&T.
Ms. Satter told lawmakers there is a need to update Illinois' telecom law, but not at the expense of nearly 40 percent of customers across the state. That, we fear, is exactly what will happen if the General Assembly allows the telecoms and their lobbyists to write the laws that are supposed to govern them.
AT&T should be as concerned with modernizing its decaying downstate services as it is with updating the state's telecom laws. Legislators should demand AT&T offer a plan and a timetable -- with teeth --for downstate broadband and other service improvements before considering any modernization of the telecom laws.
We're confident that lawmakers can be persuaded to do the right thing despite the more than $400,000 Illinois political candidates received from AT&T from Jan. 1, 2009 to Feb. 1, 2010 (and that figure is likely to only go up as the debate over a telecom rewrite goes on).
Let lawmakers know you demand nothing less.