The very foundation of telecommunications policy both in California, and at the federal level, is competition. For decades, the telecommunications market has been increasingly subject to competition and our policies have been evolving to both reflect the spread of competition and to encourage its further development and use.
The clear policy guidance at both the state and federal level is for Commission policies to favor the development of a competitive telecommunications market so that consumers can reap the benefits such competition engenders. Our policies seek to promote competition among multiple networks and technologies. Such intermodal competition is key to reaping the full benefits of competition. Reducing barriers to entry is a basic requirement for the development of competition. Over the past decade, we have attempted to remove the regulatory barriers that prevent competition in the local telephone market.
We are concerned that our lack of a clearly articulated policy regarding our application of CEQA to telecommunications carriers has, in itself, created a barrier to entry. We are also concerned that, because carriers that have entered the market since 1999 face significantly different requirements for Commission approval of network expansions than the ILECs, or even the CLCs that entered the market prior to 1999, the level of competition has been hindered by our regulatory regime. We also recognize that competition does not only come from new entrants, but also comes from existing carriers. A regulatory process that hinders the ability of existing carriers, particularly those that have authority that predates late 1999, might also serve to reduce the vigor of the competition upon which our telecommunications policy is built.