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Thursday May 3, 1:49 pm Eastern Time Press Release Bills Support Enforcement and Provide Penalties for Violation of Telecom Act SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2001-- Covad Communications praised the bipartisan efforts of Representatives Chris Cannon (R-Utah) and John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) for their introduction of the Cannon-Conyers Package, a set of bills which further strengthen the pro-consumer, pro-competition goals of the 1996 Telecommunications Act.
These bills were introduced today and are the only ones before Congress that support Telecommunications Act compliance and competition in the broadband market. They would help limit monopoly control over the telecom industry and provide incentives for the deployment of broadband nationwide.
``The telecommunications industry, the American economy and consumers are better off with enforcement of the Telecommunications Act, and these bills allow the promise of the Act to be realized,'' said Dhruv Khanna, Covad co-founder, general counsel and executive vice-president. ``Representatives Cannon and Conyers have reaffirmed their role as leading advocates for consumer choice in local phone service and in allowing the broadband industry to thrive. We applaud their legislative effort to give the FCC and the courts the ability to make the Telecommunications Act work as it was intended. Consumers would be the ultimate beneficiaries. These bills would ensure competition, and give consumers greater choices and better services.''
Some of the specifics of these two bills include a reaffirmation that the intent of the Telecommunications Act allows competitors to seek antitrust remedies in federal court in conjunction with FCC enforcement. They also provide for a region-wide alternative dispute resolution system for enforcement of Section 251. This includes allowing a state attorney general to suspend a phone company's ability to jointly market DSL and advanced telecommunications services if a public utilities commission or similar organization determines that a phone company violated Section 251.
Section 251 is the heart of the Telecommunications Act, which opens the local phone markets to competition. It does so by requiring the unbundling of network elements (which are the individual portions of the phone lines), line-sharing (the ability to deliver data services over the existing phone lines), and collocation (the ability to put equipment in a central office owned by a phone company).
About Covad Communications Covad is the leading national broadband service provider of high-speed Internet and network access utilizing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology. It offers DSL, IP and dial-up services through Internet Service Providers, telecommunications carriers, enterprises, affinity groups, PC OEMs and ASPs to small and medium-sized businesses and home users. Covad services are currently available across the United States in 109 of the top Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). Covad's network currently covers more than 40 million homes and business and reaches approximately 40 to 45 percent of all U.S. homes and businesses. Corporate headquarters is located at 4250 Burton Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054. Telephone: 888/GO-COVAD. Web Site: www.covad.com. Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts are ``forward-looking statements,'' including statements concerning the reporting of Covad's financial results, the Company's ability to migrate end users of distressed ISPs, plans to expand its network, market opportunities, the cost, timing and scope of the deployment of Covad's network and launching of its services, implementation of line sharing and self-installation, anticipated capital expenditures, revenues, EBITDA results, expense reductions and other operating results, success of strategic relationships, and the statements made by the chairman in this release. Actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing Covad or actual results differing from the assumptions underlying such statements. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, Covad's ability to successfully market its services to current and new customers, the consolidation of sales to a fewer number of wholesale customers, Covad's ability to generate customer demand, to achieve acceptable pricing, to respond to increasing competition, to manage growth, to receive timely payment from our Internet service providers and other customers, to access regions and negotiate suitable interconnection agreements, all in a timely manner, at reasonable costs and on satisfactory terms and conditions, as well as regulatory, legislative, and judicial developments. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by the ``Risk Factors'' and other cautionary statements included in Covad's SEC filings. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact:
Covad Communications Greg Tornga, 408/844-7547 (Investor Relations) InvestorRelations@covad.com or Alexander Ogilvy Christian Pinkston, 202/423-6611 (Press) cpinkston@alexanderogilvy.com Email this story - Most-emailed articles - Most-viewed articles |