Time for Business to Develop a Meaningful, National Broadband Policy

Larissa Herda of tw telecom says the competitive telecom industry sits at a crossroads and must decide whether to continue permitting consolidation and deregulation, or whether to "take a fresh look and develop a meaningful broadband policy." "We're leaving one of the most unfriendly regulatory environments possible and, guess what? We're still here, we survived," said Herda, chairman, president and CEO of the Colorado-based Ethernet services provider. "Getting through the past eight years has been nothing short of phenomenal - like a scary reality show, 'Survivor FCC.'" But there's no immunity on this island, Herda said, and with a new presidential administration in place - and in spite of the recession - it's time to head straight for the "new telecom economy." This is the environment that embraces collaboration, Web 2.0, Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing or, services that require "massive amounts" of bandwidth. However, success will require help from regulators. CLECs must get federal officials to understand that broadband - on which the new telecom economy rests - must be extended to businesses and enterprises, not just residential customers. For that to happen, Herda said, the FCC needs to take three steps: 1) effectively regulate special access rules, including those overseeing Ethernet services and UNEs; 2) regulate interconnection for data and IP voice; and 3) either reform or eliminate the forbearance process. But competitive providers have to talk to politicians in Washington, emphasizing that a national broadband policy must encompass business broadband too.