SwampFox

Nuvox Communications Expresses Disappointment At House Passage Of Tauzin-Dingell Bill

Submitted by: John Warner on Feb 28, 2002 at 6:00 am Tagged with: General Archives Source:

Swamp Fox

NUVOX COMMUNICATIONS EXPRESSES DISAPPOINTMENT AT HOUSE PASSAGE OF
TAUZIN-DINGELL BILL

St. Louis, MO (February 28, 2002) - Mike Cassity, President and Chief Operating
Officer of NuVox Communications, a competitive provider of integrated broadband
communications services in 30 markets in 13 Southeast and Midwest states,
expressed disappointment over congressional passage of H.R. 1542, the
Tauzin-Dingell bill.

"This bill would lift the requirements of the landmark 1996 Telecommunications
Act that the local Bell monopolies open their networks to meaningful
competition before being permitted to offer in-region long distance services,"
Cassity said. "More importantly, the bill would strangle competition by
allowing the regional Bell companies to exclude competitive providers, such as
NuVox Communications, from fair access to their networks at cost-based
wholesale rates - an act that would have a detrimental effect on consumers.

"NuVox believes the U.S. Senate will see the bill for what it is - a bald-faced
attempt by the Bell companies to continue their monopoly hold on broadband
services markets. Telecommunications monopolies are bad for the economy and bad
for consumers, and we are confident the Senate will act to protect broadband
telecommunications competition."

Ed Cadieux, Vice President for Regulatory and Public Affairs of NuVox, added,
"Senator Hollings and other senior members of the Senate are already on record
fiercely opposing this misguided legislation. It is noteworthy that
Tauzin-Dingell only passed the House with the assistance of procedures imposed
by the House leadership that stacked the deck and prevented a straight up or
down vote on the Cannon/Conyers amendment - the only amendment that would have
inserted meaningful competitive safeguards in the legislation. Those tactics
denied fundamental fairness. Virtually all competitive telecommunications
companies, independent Internet service providers, national consumer rights
organizations, and many state regulatory commissions oppose Tauzin-Dingell.
NuVox looks forward to the opportunity to make its views known to the Senate to
ensure that Congress remains true to the pro-competitive promise of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996.

"The passage of the Tauzin-Dingell bill marks the culmination of over six years
of efforts by the four dominant Baby Bell carriers -Verizon, SBC, BellSouth,
and Qwest - to reverse the pro-competitive, pro-consumer requirements of the
1996 Act.

"According to the Center for Responsible Politics, these companies have
contributed approximately $19.4 million to members of the House since 1999 and
have spent millions more on media advertising to support their efforts to rid
themselves of the market-opening requirements of the 1996 Act."

-###-

About NuVox Communications
NuVox Communications is the integrated communications provider of choice,
delivering superior broadband services and customer care to business customers
in 30 markets in 13 Southeast and Midwest states. NuVox offers businesses and
other end-users advanced integrated voice, data, and Internet products and
services. The Company provides dedicated high-speed Internet access; Web page
design, development, and hosting; "traditional" local and long distance
telephone services; and unified voice, e-mail, and fax messaging as well as
advanced data services. NuVox's growing product portfolio also includes WAN
management, audioconferencing, and remote access. NuVox provides its integrated
voice and data services to over 12,000 on-net customers with more than 150,000
on-net access lines in service. NuVox has raised $775 million of capital for
its operations and entered 2002 with $108 million of annualized revenues. NuVox
is privately held, and its headquarters are located at 16090 Swingley Ridge
Road, Suite 500, in Chesterfield, MO 63017. The NuVox Communications Web site
URL is www.nuvox.com.

Contact: Myron Hosea, Manager of Public Relations, NuVox Communications
864-331-8073 or mhosea@nuvox.com