[Forwarded from a longtime Politech reader at SBC who asked for anonymity. Ed Whitacre is SBC's chairman and CEO. The House is scheduled to vote on the Tauzin-Dingell broadband bill on Wednesday or Thursday, see: http://www.politechbot.com/p-03183.html --Declan] ----- Begin forwarded message ----- From: SBC.COMat_private Sent: Monday, February 25, 2002 5:59 PM Subject: A Message On H.R. 1542 From Ed Whitacre A Message on H.R. 1542 From Ed Whitacre Fellow employee, We have a real chance to see the broadband playing field leveled - and you can help right now. Congress is considering H.R. 1542 - otherwise known as the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001 or Tauzin-Dingell bill -- and House leadership plans to bring the bill to the floor for a vote on Wednesday, Feb. 27. This bill would do two major things: It would take a significant step toward leveling the broadband playing field by lifting the red tape from DSL Internet service, and it would remove the barriers we face in providing long-distance data service. In both cases, existing regulations give our competitors a huge advantage. In fact, the cable monopoly controls about 70 percent of the broadband market, limiting choice for millions of consumers. Passing H.R. 1542 is SBC's number one legislative priority this year, and to support our efforts we've established Connect USA, an 80,000-member coalition that supports real competition for high-speed data service. Through the Connect USA Web site at http://www.connectusa.org, you can quickly and easily send letters, faxes or e-mails encouraging the support of your U.S. Representative. The site also provides information on how you can help seek the support of neighbors, family and friends. I am confident that if we make our voices heard, our elected officials will take notice and do the right thing for America's broadband consumers. Please take a few minutes today to visit the Web site, learn about the issues, and let your elected officials know that you support this vital legislation. Thank you. ----- End forwarded message ----- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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