| Summary: | This background briefing paper was drafted by the Massachusetts Technology
Collaborative to help the Mass Broadband Initiative advisory committee understand the context
of several important regulatory issues affecting Verizon and its competitors, not only in
Massachusetts but in the country as a whole. These issues have taken on added importance as the
current economic downturn has led to the bankruptcy or downsizing of many Competitive Local
Exchange Carriers (CLECs), which were established to compete directly with Verizon and the
other Baby Bells (Qwest, BellSouth, and SBC Communications).
The troubles in the CLEC industry have rippled back into the telecommunications
equipment industry (including companies in Massachusetts), and have raised the bar for local
Internet access projects (such as those represented on our Mass Broadband Initiative advisory
committee), which are organized to create facilities-based competition at the local level.
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