CenturyLink, Partners, Announce New Coalition to Boost Broadband Competition

nycwired July 14, 2016July 22, 2016 ATT, Broadband, Centurylink, FCC

Five U.S. network infrastructure providers announced they were combining their efforts to preserve critical network infrastructure and competition in the business broadband market.

The companies, who together operate data and fiber transport networks in all 50 states, provide dedicated connections, or “special access,” to competitors who need to reach fiber networks to market competing telecom services. Substantial and ongoing investments in these services are what connect businesses, homes, cell towers for wireless traffic, and data services for millions of users. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently proposed sweeping and questionable new regulations on the special access market and incumbent providers.

The “Invest in Broadband for America” coalition (investinbroadband.org) is made up of CenturyLink, Inc., Cincinnati Bell, Inc., Consolidated Communications, Inc., FairPoint Communications, Inc. and Frontier Communications.

“First and foremost, it is crucial that the FCC get the data right on competition in the marketplace before flying blindly into a major policy decision,” John Jones, CenturyLink Senior Vice President, Policy and Government Relations said in a statement. “Important decisions are best made with accurate data. What is at stake here is the definition of ‘competition.’ That definition will have a substantial impact on the telecom and national economy for years to come. Think investment, suppliers, employees, infrastructure and contractors.”

“It appears much of the FCC’s plan for new regulation of broadband services is for the purpose of subsidizing undefined 5G technology for the wireless industry. Kathleen Quinn Abernathy, Frontier Senior Vice President, External Affairs said in a statement. This is the same wireless industry that increasingly relies on our robust fiber build-out to move data traffic from smartphones to the public network and has as much as 10 times the earnings of the wireline industry. Without investment into the back haul infrastructure by the wireline industry, the future of 5G technology could be rendered useless.”

The coalition partners are particularly concerned about the potential of unintended consequences for rural and other underserved communities if the FCC’s proposal is passed.