Forget the carrot

I'm the youngest of four children in my family, and for a variety of reasons I got away with more while growing up than any of my siblings. Part of the secret was that I learned fairly early in life how the household punishment system was set up. Mom was the first line; Dad was the second and final arbiter. Getting to the second line was when I knew I was really in trouble.

Mom could be reasoned with-a one-week punishment often could be negotiated down to a day within hours. Dad dealt out punishment like the Supreme Court-no appeals allowed. The two worked a carrot-and-stick approach, with Mom withholding the carrots and Dad going straight for the stick.

The 1996 Telecom Act uses the same approach to competition-just not as effectively. Only after the RHCs open their local networks to competition will they be allowed to offer in-region long-distance service. Like clockwork, though, every attempt by a Bell company to enter the long-distance market is met by a chorus of long-distance companies, local competitors and, occasionally, consumer groups bemoaning the fact that local telcos still control 99% of the market.

It's time to admit that this method has failed. It's time to ditch the carrot and start swinging the stick. It's time to rewrite parts of the telecom act, specifically Section 271.

I'm all in favor of allowing Bell operating companies into the long-distance market. However, forcing them to wait until they open their local markets creates an environment in which competitors and incumbents alike can forever cry wolf while the average consumer still has a single choice for local telecom service. Meanwhile, the RHCs are forced to file 10,000 pages of evidence proving that holding more than 95% of a market doesn't constitute a monopoly.

Instead of dangling the long-distance carrot in front of the RHCs' noses, perhaps it would be more effective to let them in the market with the caveat that forestalling local competition will bring out the regulator's stick in the form of fines. Miss an interconnection date and pay up. Stall on a request to provide a competitor access to operational support systems and fork over some cash.

Like records that were meant to be broken, some laws were meant to be rewritten.