Subject: [NEXTEL-1] SBC Applauds President Bush for Making Broadband Investment a National Priority

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 07:36:07 -0400

SBC Applauds President Bush for Making Broadband Investment a National
Priority
Monday April 26, 4:54 pm ET  
Company Calls On FCC To Act Swiftly in Addressing Lingering Concerns 

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2004--SBC Communications 
(NYSE:SBC - News) today applauded President Bush for taking a 
leadership role in advocating faster and wider broadband deployment 
across America. The president's comments, made in a speech earlier 
today, are the latest in a growing chorus of recognition that 
broadband policy should be a national priority. 

With the United States ranked 11th in the world in broadband 
penetration, according to some studies, SBC said it is encouraged 
that investment in this enabling technology could increase if free-
market competition is chosen over restrictive financial and 
regulatory barriers. 

Today, President Bush said: "A proper role for the government is to 
clear regulatory hurdles so those who are going to make investments 
do so. Broadband is going to spread because it's going to make sense 
for private sector companies to spread it so long as the regulatory 
burden is reduced." 

Edward E. Whitacre, Jr., SBC chairman and CEO, said: "We are pleased 
that the president is expressing support for policies that would 
spur deployment of broadband. We view this as an important 
development - one that will not only re-energize the still-slumping 
telecom sector and reinvigorate the nation's economy, but help 
deliver an essential technology to millions more American homes and 
businesses. 'We're number 11' is not a slogan we want America to 
have in this key global market segment." 

SBC said the Federal Communications Commission must act wisely and 
swiftly to help make the president's vision a reality. Under 
Chairman Powell's leadership, the FCC already has begun work towards 
that goal, as evidenced in the broadband portion of its Triennial 
Review Order, which the courts upheld. Going forward, the FCC should 
refrain from appealing that landmark court decision, and should also 
address three lingering areas of concern to help unleash the 
potential of broadband. 

The three areas of concern, all affecting consumers and the economy, 
are: 

To free fiber and packet-based networks - the foundation for 
exciting new technologies - from burdensome wholesale regulations 
designed for legacy voice networks. These rules impose unnecessary 
costs, promote synthetic competition and result in disparate 
government subsidies for those who don't invest.
To keep all IP (Internet Protocol) services free from economic and 
price regulation in an effort to spur the development of innovative 
products for consumers.
To approach and apply public policy in the same manner for all 
broadband providers. Unlike DSL, other broadband technologies, such 
as cable modems, are allowed to develop and expand unfettered by 
most government restrictions. Similar to other areas of technology 
and industry, consumers should be afforded the ability to pick the 
winners and losers in the marketplace. 
SBC has invested billions of dollars in developing and deploying 
broadband technology, and has made broadband available to more than 
38 million homes and businesses, including rural communities and 
thousands of schools across the country. However, an unpredictable, 
restrictive and often contradictory public policy environment has 
slowed the pace of investment. 

"That progress can be very deceiving for several reasons," Whitacre 
said. "First, getting to this point has taken far too long because 
of onerous rules. Second, many homes and businesses still are shut 
out from basic broadband technology. And last, there is a new 
frontier of broadband investment - fiber to the premises, distance 
learning, medical diagnostics and video-on-demand - that is now 
being delayed from its fullest possibilities. We should have been 
well on our way by now. 

"These services aren't luxuries - they are fundamental tools for our 
consumers and our economy," Whitacre added. "To deliver on their 
promise requires tremendous investment. How government agencies 
decide to participate in this important issue will determine how 
quickly the market will develop." 

By acting swiftly, SBC said the FCC has an ideal opportunity to 
unleash this emerging market, and follow through on America's vision 
of being a broadband leader. 

"America has led the way in the free market, and we should learn 
from that," Whitacre said. "If the government had micro-managed the 
computer industry like this, nobody would have invested in the next 
great microprocessor or LCD monitor. If the wireless industry were 
micro-managed like this no company would have invested in the next 
great handset or offer more minutes for less money. And now, 
broadband - the engine that will really leverage these earlier 
technological advancements - should be allowed to develop just as 
freely." 

SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC - News) is a Fortune 50 company 
whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full 
range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing 
and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and 
other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership 
interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 24 million 
wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet 
access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and 
are among the nation's leading providers of Internet services. SBC 
companies also now offer satellite TV service. 

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040426006051&newsLang=en

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at MyInks.com.  Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada.
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/mOAaAA/3exGAA/qnsNAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

-- 
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address 
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEXTEL-1/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     [email-masked]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/