Group Issues Economic Warning Data Links Lacking, It Says

Washington’s economic health could be imperiled if officials do not find ways to encourage enhanced telecommunications services statewide, a new study says.

The report released this week by the Technology Alliance warns that rural areas in particular will be unable to retain and attract business, or bolster health and education services, unless fiber-optic telephone lines are extended beyond urban centers.

But, added co-author Tom Alberg Thursday, even some city neighborhoods lack high-speed links to the Internet and other services.

“I think there’s a pretty great need,” he said. “All companies are becoming dependent on datacommunications, Internet access.”

Alberg said members of the alliance, a consortium of businesses in various high-technology fields, hope the study jump-starts legislative action to alleviate some of the problems.

For example, the study suggests that the state abandon the traditional, rate-of-return method of setting basic rates for major carriers such as U S West Communications in favor of a method that caps rates.

In return, the phone companies would have to increase investment in high-speed technology.

Also, the study says, the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission must have the authority and resources to quickly resolve disputes between entrenched carriers and newcomers who want access to their networks.

State and local governments could also encourage more new construction if restrictions or excessive fees for using public rights of way were removed, the study adds.

Other recommendations:

Encourage cable-TV companies to open their networks to two-way communication.

Compile a map of the state’s fiber-optic “backbone.”

Establish telecommunication “enterprise zones” in small towns that, with tax incentives, could create bandwidth demand large enough to attract a service provider.

Utilities commission Chairwoman Anne Levinson welcomed the attention the alliance’s study should bring to telecommunications issues.

Studies formulated by Puget Sound-based groups seldom do a good job of addressing problems with statewide implications, she said.

Levinson said she also prefers rate caps, but not for the recommended investment trade-offs.

The companies, she said, should be building the networks demanded by customers. “There simply isn’t sufficient investment,” she said.

Levinson said the commission implemented procedures last fall that should help resolve disputes among carriers, but their effect is not yet clear.

U S West spokesman Mark Usellis said the report correctly identifies the challenges facing Washington, and the potential solutions.

The company, he said, will pledge to expand its network in return for rate-making based on price caps.

Usellis deflected criticism that U S West is responsible for squabbles over competitor connection to its network. In some cases, companies are willfully tying up matters before the commission or in court while they are aggressively recruiting U S West customers in the meantime, he said.

Ultimately, Usellis said, state officials must confront the issues posed by the telecom revolution.

“This state is one of the leaders in high-tech industry,” he said. “You can’t take that for granted.”