Regulations

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By Tim Greene
10:27 AM EST

Perhaps it's just that Congress happens to be taking up broadband policy legislation right now, but there is a constant drumbeat here at SuperComm 2002 that federal regulations are standing in the way of broadband service deployments.

And, the beat goes, stalled broadband deployments are standing in the way of a high-tech recovery. Without fat pipes to the Internet, customers will never buy the streaming, interactive services that will prompt more sales of networking gear and software, thereby helping to stimulate the economy.

At the Broadband Showdown run by Network World at SuperComm 2002, the representative of SBC took every opportunity to mention that federal regulations stand in the way of SBC further deploying equipment that supports DSL. If SBC has to share that gear with competitors, as regulations require, it just doesn't make sense to install it in the first place, the argument goes.

And it's not just DSL. Some of the passive optical networking vendors and service providers as well say they won't go forward with deployment of that technology for the same reason.

If Congress buys the argument, it can't help but lift the regulations. If it doesn't, members face the political reality that their opponents in this fall's elections can claim they stood in the way of economic recovery. And there are a bunch of vendors who will likely back up the claims.

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