Recently, Level 3 Regulatory Counsel Erik Cecil brought former FCC official Dale Hatfield to Wyoming in order to fight a Qwest effort to gain a virtual monopoly on Internet backhaul in that state. (Wyoming map from Wikipedia.)
Qwest went to state regulators to demand that Level 3, which offers competitive pricing on fiber-based backhaul, would have to connect everywhere in the state before it could be allowed to do business. Cecil was fighting this effort to secure an effective monopoly, and at the last moment Hatfield agreed to testify against the Qwest effort.
Writes Gordon Cook: Spread the word. Tell it to the farthest corners of this land that
the power of money to choke the lifeblood out of rural communities and fuel
the bank accounts of corporate magnates, is NOT what the United States of
America stands for. Rather that it stands for those like Eric Cecil and
Dale Hatfield who will fight for what they believe is right. And that it
stands for those who are willing to risk their well being in order to
preserve freedom of
opportunity for their fellow citizens.
And now, Mr. Cecil:
Dale:
Thanks again for coming up to Wyoming and testifying on the
state of the industry. Words cannot express my gratitude nor the joy I experienced when you took the stand, and gently brought forth the light
of a fierce reality – that the Wyoming Commission must pay attention to
competition or it will end.
By your presence I saw every advantage that
Qwest had tried to exploit in this proceeding, and one they exploit in
nearly every proceeding – fear, chauvinism, parochialism, cronyism,
ignorance, and laziness – instantly transform to their glaring
disadvantage. Their darkness was exposed in deep relief by your light
because in that moment three state commissioners hearing about a dispute
between a CLEC they were half convinced would never do anything for the state,
using a technology they half=believed was some kind of scam, whose minds
were dulled by after days of confusion, acrimony, evasiveness, technology,
acronyms, and cases, sat bolt upright, cleared their minds and paid
attention.
They paid attention because the moment you reached the stand
that this was no longer some dispute over yet another acrimonious money grab between feuding carriers. You said all of that without saying
it. You said all of that without saying it because you drove up to
Wyoming by yourself on the uncertain possibility that we might have an
opportunity under Wyoming rules to call you as a rebuttal witness; because
it wasn’t for the glory – this was an interconnection dispute
between a
struggling CLEC and the nation’s smallest ILEC in the nation’s least
populous state; because it was not about the money – you paid your own way
– gas, hotel and all we gave you was gratitude and dinner the night before;
because it was about danger – because as the semi-retired dean of
competition who had schooled the United States and nations worldwide you
laid your reputation on the line in an adversarial proceeding, subjected
yourself not only to cross
examination, but cross examination after Qwest
fought for and received right to hold off on cross until after they had
the transcript and a few weeks to prepare for that cross examination on
February 21; because the Commission reserved its right of cross examination; because Qwest complained it was a setup; because we did
ask questions on issues of public policy and their witnesses gleefully
responded – we didn’t know they would, but they did; and after sitting in
the hearing room for several hours, you stood up and took the stand and
swore not to perjure yourself.
Your words were secondary to your
presence because this could have been about nothing other than your passion
– innovation, technology and competition – in a word –creativity. Your
words were
secondary to your presence because you believe the Internet is revolutionary; right now things aren’t going so well. None of the 1996
Act promises you worked to make come true are coming about as expected.
Your words were secondary to your presence because this is really about
your passion for competition – fair competition – and you drove up to
Cheyenne to tell them as much. Your words were secondary to his presence
because after the commission overruled a Qwest objection on scope of cross,
you relaxed and opened your heart and delivered your passion.
And in
that eternal moment – eternal because time stood still – you delivered your
words. And I watched as the perspective of the Wyoming Commission began to
shift – as these and many other multiple realizations simultaneously
silently exploded into their consciousness. All was still in that room.
Nothing moved. Consciousness itself spoke – and told the Wyoming
Commission to listen. Wisdom itself spoke — and told the Wyoming
Commission to be careful. Experience itself spoke and — told the Wyoming
Commission to care about competition. Justice itself spoke — and told
the Wyoming Commission to suspect incumbents who argue for more regulation in one proceeding, deride it in the next and simultaneously
promote de-regulatory legislation before the legislature. Your words were
secondary to your presence, BUT in THAT MOMENT your WORDS, your passion,
your presence, cleared a forest of doubts, objections, biases and apathy;
for a moment, the WY PSC paid attention in a way it never had before
.
This moment, your words, your presences does not guarantee an outcome; I know that. But I also know that the WY Commission heard
your words. They may later disregard them for whatever reasons, but in
that moment, they were awake, receptive & listening. And that was more
than I could have ever asked or hoped for.
So, for a soldier having
fought so many of these battles to only lose to the aforementioned
incumbent advantages, your presence was nothing short of miraculous and
the single greatest courtroom moment of my career. It was, in a word,
fun!!! Your testimony, however, is a gift not
only to Level 3 but to the
entire industry. As I told Alex, I’ve spent quite a bit of time opening
shades to let a little sunlight into the room; it was awesome to watch you
open your heart and
through you that sunlight beam straight into the
consciousness of the Wyoming PSC.
On behalf of the countless CLECs that I
have had to help exit the business, those friends and family displaced by
such dislocation, and those few CLECs that still remain – including my
client – Thank You.
