SBC: SBC Welcomes Court Decision on Wholesale Regulations

For more information, contact:
Dave Pacholczyk
210-351-2178
Barry Hutchison
202-328-8858

WASHINGTON, DC (March 2, 2004) – The D.C. Circuit Court today ordered the Federal Communications Commission to come up with new wholesale and unbundling rules that can pass legal approval. This marks the third time since 1996 that the agency’s rules have been rejected by U.S. courts.

In its ruling, the circuit court said the FCC did not comply with the 1996 Telecommunications Act and its order from two years ago to apply a workable, legal test to determine exactly what competitors needed from incumbent local phone companies to compete. Known as an “impairment” test, the court said the FCC erred by not providing unified, federal guidelines and by pushing many FCC decisions to the states.

Please attribute the following to William Daley, President of SBC Communications, Inc.

Today’s court action is a victory for consumers, and should help this industry move forward in developing healthy, sustainable and economically rational competition that will extend telecommunications innovations farther and faster in the marketplace.

The country, the industry and consumers nationwide have been waiting eight years for a clear and legally sound set of rules that is true to Congress’ pro-competitive and pro-investment intent in the Telecom Act.

This appears to be a victory for those who support markets free of rules that have repeatedly been judged illegal and which have eliminated jobs, shrunk investment and hurt fair competition.

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SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is one of the world’s leading data, voice and Internet services providers. Through its world-class networks, SBC companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business services, as well as directory advertising and publishing. A Fortune 30 company, SBC Communications is America’s leading provider of high-speed DSL Internet Access services and one of the nation’s leading Internet Service Providers. SBC companies currently serve 55 million access lines nationwide. In addition, SBC companies own 60 percent of America’s second-largest wireless company, Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 23 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC companies have telecommunications investments in 26 countries.