Date: Wed, 6 Jun 2001 10:19:28 -0600 From: bmorton@facstaff.wisc.edu (Barry Orton) Subject: What's New at the Phoenix Center.... To: telecomreg@relay.doit.wisc.edu (Multiple recipients of list) Reply-To: telecomreg@relay.doit.wisc.edu
reposted for info@phoenix-center.org
We are pleased to announce some very exciting developments here at the Phoenix Center.
First, we are pleased to announce that the Phoenix Center has just published our eleventh Phoenix Center Policy Paper entitled: An Economic Analysis of the FCC's Notice of Inquiry on Flat Rate Charges in the Long Distance Industry by Phoenix Center Adjunct Fellow Dr. George S. Ford. In this Phoenix Center Policy Paper No. 11, Dr. Ford examines the Federal Communications Commission's July 20, 1999 Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on the impact of certain flat-rated charges on single-line residential and business customers who make few, or no, interstate long-distance clls. As Dr. Ford demonstrates, however, the relationship between usage and income is not all the FCC expects it to be. Instead, Dr. Ford finds that the evidence indicates that while usage and income are positively correlated, the correlation is weak. Furthermore, low usage (the focus of the NOI) is found to be common at all income levels suggesting that the recent changes in the industry are not excessively burdensome to households of a particular income level. As such, Dr. Ford concludes that the pro-regulatory nature of the Commission's NOI is discouraging, particularly because the "regulation of prices in a competitive [long-distance] market is perhaps the most damaging of interventions, leaving the market impotent to perform its most critical function." That is, the allocation of resources in an efficient manner. To view Phoenix Center Policy Paper No. 11 in either Word or Acrobat format, just go to: http://www.phoenix-center.org/wps.html
Second, we would like to invite everyone to attend the Phoenix Center's Annual U.S. Telecoms Symposium on July 11th here in Washington, D.C. at the Park Hyatt Hotel. The theme of this year's Symposium will be to examine the true effect of "convergence" on the strategic behavior of incumbent operators. Consistent with our mission statement, this will not be yet another Washington conference with the "usual suspects" - instead, our Symposium will instead seek to provide consumers, the media and policy-makers with an accurate picture of the fundamental structural problems in the telecoms market today, and to explore ways to move the competitive process forward constructively. After all, for structural problems, final structural solutions are required.
To make this Symposium as interesting as possible, we have comprised a program of some of the leading thinkers in the telecoms industry. Indeed, confirmed speakers for the Symposium include Dr. George Ford PhD (Adjunct Fellow Phoenix Center and Chief Economist, Z-Tel), Dr. Jerry Duvall PhD (Chief Economist Emeritus, Phoeix Center and Chief Economist, FCC Mass Media Bureau), Dr. Marius Schwartz, PhD (Georgetown University and former Economics Director of Enforcement at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice) Tom Koutsky (Adjunct Fellow, Phoenix Center, and former Associate General Counsel, Covad), John Thorne (Deputy General Counsel, Verizon), Dr. Tom Hazlett PhD (AEI), Dr. Robert Crandall PhD (Brookings Institution), Phil Verveer (Partner, Wilke Farr & Gallagher), Brian O'Connor (Phoenix Center Editorial dvisory Board Member and Vice President, VoiceStream), Dr. Doron Fertig PhD (Senior Economist, McKinsey & Co.) and Larry Strickling (General Counsel, Core Express and former Chief, FCC Common Carrier Bureau).
But wait, there's more....In addition to this excellent program, the Phoenix Center will be bestowing its prestigious Jerry B. Duvall Award for Public Service upon Representative Chris Cannon (R-UT) at this year's Symposium. Each year, the Duvall Award goes to the policy-maker who - like its namesake - most demonstrates the political courage to break away from the conventional rhetoric and instead approaches the complex competitive issues raised by telecoms restructuring with the solemnity and analytical rigor they deserve. The Phoenix Center chose Representative Cannon to be this year's recipient for having the political courage to introduce the American Broadband Competition Act of 2001 as a legislative alternative to the Internet Freedom and Broadband Deployment Act of 2001 (Tauzin-Dingle). This will be Representative Cannon's first major address on his alternative bill, and should make for an extremely interesting and provocative discourse with Symposium participants.
For a full description of the Symposium -- including the most recent conference agenda, details about the Duvall Award and Representative Cannon -- along with all necessary registration forms, please go to: http://www.phoenix-center.org/ustelecoms2001/index.html We hope to see you all there.
Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies 5335 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Suite 440 Washington, D.C. 20015 Tel: (+1) (202) 274-0235 Fax: (+1) (202) 244-8257 e-Fax: (+1) (240) 250-0879 E-mail: info@phoenix-center.org Web Page: www.phoenix-center.org
The Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies is an international, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that studies broad public-policy issues related to governance, social and economic conditions and their effect on consumer welfare, with a particular focus on the law and economics of regulated industries.