Five years have passed since the federal 1996 Communications Act became law. Here in Rhode Island, while other parts of the country perhaps have been slow to realize any true benefits, we have seized the opportunities presented by the Act. In many respects, Rhode Island residents and businesses have been among the first to witness the benefits of this landmark legislation.
The Telecommunications Act opened up the telecommunications industry to competition and encouraged cable companies to expand their offerings to include high-speed data and telephone services, while also dismantling barriers that prevented local phone companies from providing video services. And while some still lament what they call a lack of competition within the cable industry, satellite providers have quietly gained more than 15 percent of the video marketplace nationally, and are attracting 7 out of 10 new customers to multichannel video services. And as these companies enter partnerships with regional telephone companies, their market clout and presence will only increase. In short, the Act is increasing consumer choices, promoting product development and technological innovation, and enhancing reliability within the telecommunications marketplace.
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One of the most dramatic byproducts of the legislation for Rhode Island has been the creation of a nearly ubiquitous fiber-optic, competitive broadband infrastructure — an achievement of which Rhode Island alone can boast. By removing artificial barriers to entry, the Telecommunications Act made it attractive for Cox Communications to invest more than $300 million in a fiber optic network that runs throughout most of the state, serving both residential and commercial customers. Undoubtedly, this venture, planned and initiated over five years ago, is a sound investment in our company’s future, but it is also an investment that has positioned Rhode Island at the leading edge of the telecommunications revolution.
From an economic development standpoint, 120,000 miles of fiber is proving to be a key selling point for the state as it continues its Massexodus.com campaign aimed at attracting high tech companies to Rhode Island. As Dr. Joseph Hammang of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation has stated: The availability of competitive broadband services is a key factor in bringing new companies and new jobs to Rhode Island. Accordingly, Cox’s Business Services unit has partnered with the state to extend the broadband network to areas that figure prominently in Rhode Island’s economic development plans. Providence’s Jewelry District and Quonset Point are among these key areas.
From within the voluminous legislation of the Telecommunications Act came the promise of more competition, innovation, choice and attractive prices for consumers. Cox Communications is delivering on these promises. Today, our state leads the nation in terms of broadband communications availability. Over 90 percent of Rhode Islanders have access to high-speed Internet service, versus 40 percent nationally. Today, nearly 75 percent of Rhode Islanders can save money every month by choosing an alternative, local telephone company, by far the highest percentage in the U.S. Rhode Islanders also have more cable channel choices, on average, than their counterparts around the country.
In no other area are the benefits of consumer choice more clearly realized than with the advent of phone competition. Here in Rhode Island, Cox has offered a competitive choice for phone service via Cox Digital Telephone for one year. Residents in 22 Rhode Island communities are seeing telephone rates that are as much as 30 percent lower than they were previously paying. Before the Telecommunications Act, Rhode Island consumers couldn’t shop around for the best deal on their telephone service. There was only one place to shop.
Where there was once only one provider, the Act has created a local market where consumers can choose phone service from two providers, video from three providers and high-speed data services from providers too numerous to mention. And all indications are that there is more competition on the horizon.
Another promise of the Telecommunications Act was that customers would see savings when companies competed and offered multiple telecommunication services packaged together. Today, Rhode Islanders have the choice of purchasing cable, telephone or high-speed data services from one company at bundled prices. Over 75 percent of homes passed by Cox’s network can purchase all three services from Cox Communications and receive steep discounts every month when they choose to do so.
The 1996 Act enabled cable companies to evolve into competitive companies meeting an array of customer needs. For many consumers, this one fiber optic cable is now the central nervous system of their household – providing the mechanism to catch up on the daily news, entertain the kids, work from home, shop online or even call Grandma. And in Rhode Island, unlike any other state, that broadband technology is available nearly statewide.
Five years is a short time for significant change to occur in such a vast, complex marketplace as telecommunications, but clearly Rhode Island consumers have benefited from the Telecommunications Act and will continue to do so through competition and innovation in the industry. Cox Communication and its 1,000 plus Rhode Island employees are committed to leading this innovation here in Rhode Island. We will continue to bring the competition, innovation, choice and savings promised by the 1996 Telecommunications Act right to the doorsteps of Rhode Islanders.
