Building owners, Baby Bells unite to fight bill.

If a bill currently before the House Commerce Committee becomes law, occupants of multi-tenant commercial and residential buildings could have more choices for high-speed telecommunication service.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Michael Oxley, R-Ohio, in November 1999, would ensure that telecommunication service providers have equal access to rooftops of multi-tenant buildings where the antennas needed to provide service are installed. Using antennas or other microwave transmission, called fixed wireless technology, is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to get high-speed telecommunications services, like high-speed Internet access and video conferencing.

"This bill is aimed at removing the roadblocks tenants experience in getting service. Right now landlords are standing in the way of competition," said John Windhausen, president of the Washington-based Association for Local Telecommunications services.

The bill, called the Competitive Broadband Telecommunications Rooftop Access Act, is intended to foster more competition among carriers by eliminating practices that some providers say are discriminatory.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Commerce in November and to the Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection. When Oxley introduced the bill in November, six Congressmen were co-sponsors. Since then, numerous other Congressmen have signed on as sponsors. No votes have been taken.

Proponents argue that, under current practices by building owners, carriers that provide high-speed telecommunications services through rooftop mechanisms are experiencing discrimination because of high fees and long delays in gaining access. This, they claim, has resulted in a monopoly for local Bell companies, like Bell Atlantic Corp., which typically gain access for free.

In March, Winstar Communications Inc. general counsel and executive vice president Timothy Graham testified before a Congressional panel on the issue. Graham said it usually takes nine months to two years to negotiate access rights with building owners.

"At this rate, it will take decades to obtain access rights to all the buildings and customers that fixed wireless networks are designed to reach," Graham said.

Aside from delays, carriers are being denied access outright or being asked to pay high access fees. One East Coast building owner requested $50,000 upon signing of an access contract with Winstar in addition to a fee of $1,200 per month, Graham testified.

This month, more than 20 telecom munications providers and consumer organizations joined forces to form the Smart Buildings Policy Project based in Washington, D.C. One of the organizations' missions is to promote non-discriminatory access.

"Building owners too often stand be tween their tenants and the new services offered by competitive providers. This is contrary to the promise of the 1996 Telecommunications Act -- competition and consumer choice are being denied," said Ron Binz, president of the Competition Policy Institute.

Susan Butta, a spokeswoman for Bell Atlantic in Washington, said the company has been standing clear of the Oxley bill, but has been lobbying the Federal Communication Commission with regard to the issue of competition.

"We feel that the FCC should rule that it's an unreasonable practice for a landlord to enter into an exclusive agreement with any telecommunications carrier," Butta said. "We're for consumer choice and fewer regulations."

Opponents, like Building Owners and Managers Association International in Washington, D.C., claim mandating access violates building owners' property rights.

"Mandatory access is unnecessary, unmanageable, and unconstitutional," said Gary Lederer, vice president of government an industry affairs for the BOMA international which represents about 18,000 owners and managers of office buildings in North America. "The competitive marketplace in working just fine."

A spokesman from BOMA/NY said despite the international group's strong position against the bill, it plans to research the issue further before taking a stance of its own.

Industry experts estimate that there are 750,000 commercial buildings in the United States and one-third of Americans live in multi-tenant buildings. Only five percent. of commercial tenants. and a negligible percent of residential tenants have access to competitive telecommunication services, Windhausen said.

Among provisions of the bill are, within 15 days of a request, the owner of an occupied multi-tenant building must grant rooftop access to a telecom munications carrier, to install antennas and related equipment The law would apply to both residential and commercial buildings.

Under the bill, owners may receive "just compensation" for allowing telecommunications carriers rooftop access, but must not discriminate among carriers. The bill also provides a mechanism for resolving compensation disputes and requires owners to provide access to carriers while disputes are being resolved.

Owners who fail to comply, with the law would face civil penalties of $1,000 per day, under the proposed legislation.

"The U.S. government urged Japan to implement nondiscriminatory building ac cess requirements as a means of promoting telecommunications competition; Canada and Hong Kong already have building access requirements for the same reason," Graham said. "It is time for the United States to catch up and to take proactive measures to ensure that. American consumers will enjoy the benefits of telecommunications competition."