Contact for Interviews:    

Richard Morrison, 202.331.2273

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<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Washington, D.C., December 14, 2004—Tomorrow the Federal Communications Commission will review its rules for telephone competition, reassessing its guidelines for when a local market for phone service is sufficiently competitive to operate without government interference.

At the same time, the Competitive Enterprise Institute will release a new study on the same topic: when is a market truly “competitive,” and what services count when determining the number of phone options consumers have? In Wireless Substitution and Competition, Telenomic Research President Stephen Pociask argues that the FCC must take a broader view of the marketplace for phone service, including the possibility that consumers will replace their traditional land-line connections with wireless service or a Voice over IP (VoIP) connection.

“The telecom industry and its consumer applications are changing rapidly, but the FCC so far has been stuck in the same old regulatory rut,” said Braden Cox, CEI technology counsel. “Their rules for local phone competition have been struck down by federal courts three times already; hopefully this week the Commission will begin moving toward an understanding of true competition.”

Read Wireless Substitution and Competition: Different Technology but Similar Service – Redefining the Role of Telecommunications Regulation online at www.cei.org [2].

Telecom Experts Available for Interviews

Braden Cox

Technology Counsel

Competitive Enterprise Institute

202-331-2254

bcox@cei.org

Stephen Pociask

President

Telenomic Research, LLC

703-471-3954

steve@telenomic.com