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U.S. Chamber Study Shows Regulatory Reform Could Spark 4,700 Jobs, $14B in Economic Growth for NC, According to BellSouth CHARLOTTE, N.C., Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Policymakers in North Carolina and nationally have the ability to stimulate thousands of new jobs and billions in economic growth without tapping budget revenues. Krista Tillman, President of BellSouth's North Carolina Operations, said reforming and updating telecommunications policy could generate a total economic impact of more than $14.1 billion and 4,700 new jobs for the state. "Analysis of an economic study released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reveals that telecommunications can once again be a growth engine to power the North Carolina economy," she said. "But it will require adopting a new regulatory framework that recognizes the reality of today's competitive industry. "It is amazing how often someone tells me they did not realize the landline portion of our industry is still heavily regulated," she said. "They mistakenly assume regulation has changed because customers have so many competitive choices. The truth is that the full benefits of local telecommunications competition will not be realized until there is real regulatory reform." Entitled "Sending the Right Signals: Promoting Competition Through Telecommunications Reform," the U.S. Chamber study presented six recommendations that, if adopted, would "generate economically productive investment, produce efficient, price-lowering competition, and stimulate innovation in advanced services." While some recommendations dealt with Federal issues, such as radio spectrum allocation, others fell within state authority, such as exempting Internet services from state regulation. The authors concluded that loosening government regulation would create 212,000 new U.S. jobs over five years and generate $634 billion of additional goods and services. Because the study projected a potential job gain for each state, the financial impact on North Carolina could be calculated. "Applying the study methodology to North Carolina, you find that this state could receive $1.3 billion in new capital investment over five years," Tillman said. "But the financial impact would not stop there." Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the new capital dollars would cascade through the economy: - $3.7B in investment-led increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), - $10.4B in increased productivity, - $14.1B in total economic impact of additional goods and services. "We have all seen firsthand the economic impact and consumer benefits that resulted when the government relaxed its regulatory grip on the wireless industry," Tillman said. "The wireline market can have similar results if policy-makers are willing to embrace a market-driven approach to regulation." The full text of the original U.S. Chamber of Commerce study may be found at http://www.uschamber.com/portal/broadband/041006telecommstudy.htm . About BellSouth Corporation BellSouth Corporation (NYSE:BLS) is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider. Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(R), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access, satellite television and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(R) and The Real Yellow Pages(R). More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/ . DATASOURCE: BellSouth Corporation CONTACT: Clifton Metcalf of BellSouth, +1-704-417-8741, or Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/ http://www.uschamber.com/portal/broadband/041006telecommstudy.htm Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

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