An independent ISP owner explains why DSL providers face extinction in territory serviced by Pacific Bell

I think the public would really be surprised at the barriers that incumbent phone companies like Pac Bell can create to make sure that ISPs who partner with them are given a competitive disadvantage. SBC/PAC BELL does not want to cooperate with ISPs and, as the company who controls the infrastructure, SBC/PAC BELL has the unique ability to make things miserable for anyone who is attempting to.

I am the owner of a small ISP in Los Angeles and we have been partnered with SBC/Pac Bell since the beginning of 2000. We did not seek them out for this partnership. They called us and sent sales people to our office. At first we declined. Then, at an ISP convention (ISPCON 1999), they sold us on the partnership from their sales booth. Every day since I have seen SBC/PAC BELL use it's monopoly to create barriers against us. We react to this because we have been around for almost seven years and we don't want to loose our long-time customers to SBC/PAC BELL.

But it's difficult going up against a company who has unfair advantage. As a government sanctioned monopoly, SBC/PAC BELL are the legal owners of the physical copper that connects homes to the greater phone company infrastructure. They have right-of-way everywhere in their territory and no competitors are allowed to trench and lay their own cables.

Monopolies like this are illegal except in situations like the one SBC/PAC BELL has inherited. As I understand it, the legal monopoly was granted back in the 1930s where, in the interest of communication, it was the only way to erect a nationwide telecommunications system. In response to the antiquated laws of the 1930s the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was created. Its purpose was to foster innovation by allowing (quote) "anyone [to] enter any communications business -- to let any communications business compete in any market against any other". But instead of modernizing the Telecom Act of 1934 the '96 Act has allowed incumbent phone companies to gain an unfair advantage over ISPs while maintaining their government granted monopoly.

Some phone companies *did* modify their operations to comply, not only with the laws, but also with the spirit of competition that was proposed in the telecom act. Our partnership with GTE has been successful for both ISP and phone company. We have many satisfied customers connected and have added five new high speed connections into the GTE network since we first partnered with them in 1999.

I have seen the operations of GTE California, a phone company who I believe embraced the spirit of competition, and I compare this to the operations of Pacific Bell. Pacific Bell (wholly owned by SBC) found loopholes that would allow them to maintain monopoly control over services like DSL. Not coincidentally, independent companies who were dependent on Pac Bell like Flashcom, Zyan and Northpoint all went out of business leaving hundreds of thousands of Californians without Internet service.

I am not in love with GTE by any means. In fact, we have major problems with them too. But the unfortunate situation created by Pacific Bell eclipses any of the problems we have with Verizon (who owns GTE). As a result of our partnership with these two phone companies I am witness to the differences of an ethically operated phone company compared against those of a greedy desensitized company, whose only motivation seems to be domination of all Internet and telecom markets without regard to consumers time or inconvenience.

So, why did so many DSL Service Providers suddenly go out of business? How could Pacific Bell decimate all of its competition so effectively? Another CISPA board member answered these questions best when she said (quote): "Pacific Bell has mastered the art of strategic incompetence". Botched installations, mysteriously deleted orders, inflated prices and grossly incorrect billing are the weapons SBC/PAC BELL uses against any competitors who dare to travel onto their turf.

To this day, my company, L A Bridge continues to provide DSL and Internet services. We didn't put all of our eggs in the DSL basket. Thanks to T-1s, Co-location and dial-up we continue to grow and we operate in the black. We encourage consumers to use independent, local ISPs who provide localized and individualized services. If you live in California then visit www.CISPA.org for a list of these indie providers. And if you have had an unfortunate experience with Pacific Bell then we ask you to contact the Public Utilities Commission and voice your opinion.

Best Regards
Sincerely,