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The End Is Near for CLECs - InternetNews.
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The End Is Near for CLECs

By Jim Wagner   |    August 09, 2000
Page 1 of 2

Despite the frenzied digital subscriber line deployment by competitive local exchange carriers throughout the nation, Baby Bells will end up the winners in the long run, according to a Cahners In-Stat report released Tuesday.

The report stated that while this isn't a done deal for regional Bell operating centers, the 6-to-1 subscriber gap between RBOCs and CLECs remains a significant hurdle to overcome.

Mike Lowe, Cahners In-Stat advanced carriers service senior analyst and author of "DSL Service Providers and Their Rollouts", said the CLECs have kept themselves in the race so far by capturing some market share, but it won't be enough in the end.

"The Baby Bells are not 'home free' by any means," Lowe said. "Competitive carriers have already won a significant share of the small business market - that should help keep them in the game for some time to come. However, in the long run, the CLECs will not have enough leverage to dominate. At the end of the day, CLECs do not own the network, nor do they own the customer. As wholesalers, they are somewhat beholden to their retail partners, and as users of the RBOC's networks, they are potentially at the mercy of the incumbent carrier.

The report also mentions the CLECs handicap with its current deployment. In addition to acquiring subscribers, Lowe said, CLECs have to build out its infrastructure at the same time. Most have just completed this process and should compete on more even ground in the near future.

Covad Communications Group, the leading CLEC in the national DSL deployment race with more than 100,000 customers, just finished its rollout of DSL services in Provo, UT. It marks the company's entry into 96 of the largest cities in the United States. By the end of 2000, Covad plans to extend its reach to 165 cities through rapid deployment and its recent acquisition of BlueStar Communications.

However, it's the efforts of SBC Communications, Inc., and Project Pronto that has dominated the DSL landscape and most likely will continue to do so for the near future. The telco offers a bundled DSL-enabled Compaq Computer Corp. computer with free Prodigy Internet access in exchange for a two-year contract.

The $6 billion project has helped SBC capture around 399,000 DSL subscribers in the first and second quarter 2000, bringing in more than $650 million in revenues.

Michael Coe, SBC spokesperson, said SBC has been aggressively pursuing customers, and now that it has them, can now additionally focus on services.

"This is a service customers have been looking for and we've been very aggressive in our efforts to attract them," Coe said. "It's important to deploy this and make sure it's done right. Now, we can focus to get customers value-added services after they get their connectivity."

Sometimes, it takes a CLEC to do a RBOCs job, as in the case of Monday's acquisition of Northpoint Communications Inc., by Verizon Communications. The deal gives Verizon a 55 percent ownership stake in the company.

The acquisition marries Northpoint's experience with DSL deployment and Verizon's immense local networks to form a potentially dominating DSL presence. Northpoint will have access to nearly 63 million homes throughout the nation, and will be sold through the Bell's Internet service provider, pending shareholder approval.

Cahner's final analysis predicts more mergers and acquisitions similar to Verizon

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