Here in Connecticut, telecommunications giant SBC is lobbying heavily for the passage of Senate Bill 1097 introduced by the Connecticut Energy and Technology Committee (11 Democrats, 6 Republicans). They've been running television and radio ads almost constantly (probably newspapers too which I have no time to read). Their claim is that they want a "level playing field to foster competition and protect the public interest." What we believe it means is that SBC feels threatened by the smaller companies who can adapt to fluctuations in the market place more quickly and offer products such as VoIP far less expensively than traditional land line services.
SBC claims that VoIP telecomm providers should be classified as public utilities which then become regulated by the government, just as SBC is. They would have us believe that without legislation to regulate them, pandemonium will rein. Leaving VoIP providers unregulated is, without a doubt, quickly eroding SBC's market share. But rather than competing fairly by offering similar products at competitive rates, their angle is to foster legislation that creates enough red tape for VoIP to hamper competition with the big boys. If they succeed, chances are very good you'll see more legislation just like this coming to a Senate hearing near you!
So here's the question. Do you: