IPI Experts Available Responding to FCC's Triennial Review

8/22/2003

From: Tom Giovanetti of the Institute for Policy Innovation, 972-874-5120

DALLAS, Aug. 22 -- The FCC has released its much-anticipated and long-overdue "Triennial Review" of the rules governing telecom. This order is sure to dramatically influence the telecom industry for years to come and has the possibility to stimulate new investment in this critical sector. At the very least, the order will remove uncertainty and make the rules clear for telecom companies for the near future.

Unfortunately, the order itself is 576 pages long, and it's so controversial that each of the FCC commissioners have released their own separate statements, including a 17-page statement from Chairman Powell assenting to parts of the order and dissenting to other parts.

Did the FCC go far enough? Too far? And who wins and loses from this landmark regulatory order?

IPI telecom experts Kelli Emerick and Barry Aarons are available to comment on the Review and to explain and clarify the issues behind the Review. Please contact Tom Giovanetti at the above phone number, or email tomg@ipi.org, to set up an interview.

Additional background information on the Triennial Review can be found in a recent IPI Policy Report #175, by IPI Research Fellow Barry Aarons: "Don't Call, Just Send Me an Email -- The New Competition for Traditional Telecom," which is available from the IPI website at http://www.ipi.org.