8/6/2019 ALEC Resolution Lifting the Modification of Final
Judgment Restriction on Long Distance Service
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Part XIV: Telecommunications nRESOLUTION LIFTING THE
MODIFICATION OF FINAL JUDGEMENT RESTRICTION ON
LONG DISTANCE SERVICESummaryWhen the Bell telephone system was
broken up in 1984, artificial boundaries were created by the court
todifferentiate local from long distance service. These
unnaturally-imposed lines carry huge cost penalties forAmericas
consumers. Indeed, calls connected across these boundaries - no
matter how close theconnection - must be routed through both long
distance and local carriers. For the customer, that meansphone
bills reflect two corporate overheads and additional costs
associated with circuitous routing thatincreases the distance of a
call.Model ResolutionWHEREAS advances in technology have brought
our society into the information age; andWHEREAS the national
welfare will be greatly enhanced by bringing about the universal
availability of theinformation age to the American people through
the development and deployment of innovativetechnologies;
andWHEREAS the provision of long distance service, and the removal
o f judicially imposed restriction on thedevelopment and
availability of such servcice, will stimulate and encourage the use
of information agetechnology by the America people, and the
development of an advanced telecommunications
infrastructurethroughout the nation in the most fair and efficient
manner; andWHEREAS it is imperative that states have the freedom to
encourage telecommunications companies toprovide new and innovative
services and an efficient, reliable, state-of-the-art, and
internationallycompetitive public telecommunications network to
serve the growing needs of the people of the UnitedSTates in both
rural and urban communities; andWHEREAS the following accounting
and structural safeguards exist that prevent anticompetitive
behavior:
w federal and state Open Network Architecture (ONA) requirements
that ensure all providersequal access tolocal telephone networks;n
fully allocated cost accounting rules and a revised uniform system
of accounts which preventcross-subsidization by regulated
carrriers;n implementation o f price cap regulation at the federal
level and other forms of incentiveregulation in many states that
eliminate or reduce incentives to cross subsidize and include
extensive service quality and network investment monitoring;
andn equal network access requirements that prevent discrimination
against any interexchange
car- riers; andWHEREAS the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) is the appropriate federal agency, inconjunction with
appropriate state regulatory agencies, to ensure fair competition
in the telecommunicationsindustry, while protecting the interests
of consumers; andWHEREAS the court order on RBOCs,referred to as
the Modification of Final Judgement (MFJ) hasprevented some
two-thirds of Americas domestically owned telecommunications
industry from providinglong distance service in competition with
domestic and foreign telecommunications firms in the UnitedStates;
and
Volume II: Sourcebook of American State Legislation 1995 345
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8/6/2019 ALEC Resolution Lifting the Modification of Final
Judgment Restriction on Long Distance Service
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Part XIV: Telecommunications WWHEREAS it is the responsibility
of Congress, rather than the courts, to determine
telecommunicationspublic policy including its effect on economic
competitiveness, education reform, accessibility to healthcare, job
creation, and criminal justic reform which are essential elements
of a sound nationaltelecommunications policy;NOW THEREFORE BE IT
RESOLVED, that the state legislature calls upon the United States
Congress tovigorously support legislation which would encourage
universal service, standardize consumer access and,with the
existing consumer and industry safeguards, encourage open market
competition by allowing all localtelephone companies to engage in
the provision of long distance service; andBE IT FURTHER RESOLVED,
that the state legislature transmit copies of this resolution to
the Presidentand Vice President of the United States, the Speaker
of the House of Representatives, the President of theSenate and all
members of the Congress of the United States.
Volume II: Sourcebook of American State Legislation I995 346
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