| I filed the Brand X appeal My name's Jim Pickrell. I'm the one that filed that appeal that you are reading about here. Our site is at »www.brandx.net. We filed this appeal because, as an independent ISP, we depend on access to lines so we can provide service to customers.
The FCC itself is anti-competition. They tried to exempt the telephone companies and the cable companies from the competitive obligations of the Telecommunications act by declaring that broadband is not a telecommunications service.
We disagree. We don't think the FCC should be able to change laws by redefining a word like telecommunications. If a law is going to be changed, that's a job for our elected officials, not bureaucrats.
We appealed, and the courts agreed.
At Brand X Internet we're not looking for a free ride. We're happy to pay for the access we get. All we are looking for is a level playing field, where we pay the same price for line access, as does Adelphia or Roadrunner or SBC Internet. Then it's up to the consumer to decide which service they like. Keep in mind the monopoly gets a subsidy the moment they get their franchise, and the lines are built with consumer money, not with Adelphia or AT&T money.
Choice is the best system. If these guys got their way there would be no place for a site like DSL reports because there would be nothing to compare. There would be only one broadband provider in each area.
I think it's crazy that the FCC is trying to stifle competition. We've seen how that worked in the past. It doesn't improve service and it doesn't improve costs. Competition is the best way to harness the energy of industry for the benefit of the public.
I've identified my affiliation and you know my bias. I like competition because we are the competition. When the FCC tries to close out competition we're the ones they're trying to shut down. The SBC participants in this forum I disagree with, but at least they are honorable enough to identify themselves. It looks like we're seeing a number of lurkers from the cable companies. I'd like to see them come forward and identify themselves.
Jim Pickrell (email jimp@brandx.net) |
