RBOCs to open their local monopolies to competitors in exchange for access to long-distance services.

ECONOMIST: Call waiting

He says the choke-point remains the local loop, where RBOCs don't need long-distance authority to upgrade their networks.

CNN: SBC lobbyists undercut by DSL rollout

Miller refuses to discuss whether all of iAdvance's funding comes from SBC and Bell Atlantic, the two biggest RBOCs.

CNN: SBC lobbyists undercut by DSL rollout

CLECs argue that since the lines are already in place and DSL doesn't disrupt the phone service, it costs RBOCs nothing to share the line so CLECs should pay nothing.

CNN: DSL carriers seek free use of phone wires

The coalition, nicknamed iAdvance, has repeatedly cited federal rules limiting RBOCs to serving local calling areas, even for data traffic, and requiring them to resell their data services to competitors.

CNN: SBC lobbyists undercut by DSL rollout

State regulators around the country are holding hearings to determine what the actual costs are to RBOCs and to set a price in each state that RBOCs are allowed to charge.

CNN: DSL carriers seek free use of phone wires

Several bills in Congress have been introduced, with names such as the "Internet Freedom Act, " that remove restrictions on RBOCs which the RBOCs claim stifle both local and long-distance broadband deployments.

CNN: SBC lobbyists undercut by DSL rollout

The FCC is obligating SBC to propel its DSL rollouts forward, even though "without question" DSL would still be easier for RBOCs to invest in without the data regulations, Robertson says.

CNN: SBC lobbyists undercut by DSL rollout