February 5, 2003

Washington, D.C. - Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) Chairman Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement today regarding the current state of play of small business interests as they relate to the current UNE-P "debate" at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC):

America's small businesses have been among the first to take advantage of competitive choices in local telecom services, and, unfortunately, small businesses will be the big losers if the FCC proceeds with rule changes that eradicate competition.

By drastically altering the deregulatory framework that is encouraging competition and choice for small businesses, the FCC is proposing to eliminate the most vital market-opening provision of the Telecom Act of 1996. That provision, the Unbundled Network Elements Platform (UNE-P), allows new competitors to the Bell monopolies to lease capacity on the Bells' local networks at reasonable wholesale rates.  This leasing arrangement has enabled competition to emerge in states, which have aggressively chosen to enforce it.

Local network leasing is the primary reason that independent competitors to the Bells now provide local telecom service to 11 million small businesses and consumers who formerly had no alternative to the inflated rates and indifferent service offered by the Bell companies. Independent studies show that full implementation of UNE-P would deliver $6 billion a year in savings to small businesses alone.

Small business people don't expect handouts from the Federal government. Like many Americans, however, we are outraged when powerful corporate interests use complex and obscure government proceedings to such self-centered ends. In the current case of national telecommunications policy, it is clear that small businesses and entrepreneurs - both as consumers and competitors - are being ignored and shut out of current FCC proceedings, where we have such an enormous economic stake in the outcome.

SBSC is a national, nonprofit small business advocacy organization with 70,000 members nationwide.  For more information, please visit www.sbsc.org.