Press Release
FCC Denies Unwarranted Qwest Request in Phoenix
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously to deny a petition from Qwest Corp. for deregulatory relief from certain regulatory obligations designed to promote competition in the Phoenix Arizona market. This action marks the agency’s return to conducting traditional “market power” analysis to determine the need for deregulation.
The agency departed from this type of data-driven analysis in 2007 when it chose to rely on market speculations and incumbent carriers’ claims about competitiveness, rather than sound review, for policymaking decisions.
Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner issued the following statement:
"We are very pleased that the FCC decided to actually determine if the market was competitive before granting Qwest's petition for sweeping deregulation in the Phoenix market. This is a welcome change from the previous FCC's process of blindly granting forbearance petitions without actually analyzing the state of market competition.
"It is important to note however, that yesterday's order was focused on Phoenix’s business-class telecom market. We strongly urge the Commission to proactively apply this same market power analysis to the local residential broadband market, and other markets, given that 96 percent of consumers nationwide have two or fewer providers to choose from. Enacting policies that ensure meaningful competition in the duopoly broadband market is critical to our nation's long-term economic success."
The agency departed from this type of data-driven analysis in 2007 when it chose to rely on market speculations and incumbent carriers’ claims about competitiveness, rather than sound review, for policymaking decisions.
Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner issued the following statement:
"We are very pleased that the FCC decided to actually determine if the market was competitive before granting Qwest's petition for sweeping deregulation in the Phoenix market. This is a welcome change from the previous FCC's process of blindly granting forbearance petitions without actually analyzing the state of market competition.
"It is important to note however, that yesterday's order was focused on Phoenix’s business-class telecom market. We strongly urge the Commission to proactively apply this same market power analysis to the local residential broadband market, and other markets, given that 96 percent of consumers nationwide have two or fewer providers to choose from. Enacting policies that ensure meaningful competition in the duopoly broadband market is critical to our nation's long-term economic success."
