William Tauzin: “Mr. Chairman to enforce the long-distance restriction on the seven Bell companies, the district court approved the…”

“Mr. Chairman to enforce the long-distance restriction on the seven Bell companies, the district court approved the establishment of the so-called local access transport area or LATA system. The drawing of the LATA system is extraordinarily complex and confusing. There are 202 LATA's nationwide; four of them are in Louisiana and they bear no relationship to markets or customers. Yet it is the LATA system that is used to regulate markets and limit customer choices. LATA boundaries routinely split counties and communities of interest. LATA boundaries can even extend across State lines to incorporate small areas of a neighboring State into a given LATA. Louisiana does not have any of these so-called bastard LATA's but our neighboring State to the east, Mississippi, does. Towns and communities in the northwest corner of Mississippi, such as Hernando, are actually part of the Memphis LATA. That's Memphis, TN, not Mississippi. The enforcement of the long-distance restriction on the seven Bell companies and the establishment of the LATA system effectively preempted State jurisdiction over entry and pricing of telecommunications service. In the process, State authority over intrastate inter-LATA telecommunications have been impeded. For example, in Louisiana the Public Service Commission instituted a rate plan that provided K-12 schools with specially discounted rates for high speed data transmission services.”