I think that Bell would be forced to behave more as a supplier if it didn't have the support of its retail arm. I think that Bell would be forced into network wide upgrades to meet the needs of Bell retail and other customers. If everyone had the same access to the plant and it was provided as a commodity, there would be no incentive to provide disparate quality to any particular consumer. This is exaclty what the current regime encourages.
Remove that piece from the equation and introduce some wholesale competition and the consumer will benefit. The ILECs are upgrading plant now, not because of the demands of it's customers (both wholesale and retail), but because it is more efficient and ultimately cheaper for them to do so.
That pressure would be partly removed under the "Broadband Deregulation" proposals that regress from the 1996 Act. I have no doubt that the consumer would ultimately suffer. All the ILEC has offered the consumer in return is long distance. Long distance!
I agree parity is a joke but I don't see how it's discouraged by Bell. Every month or so we go over procedures for treating the CLECs and I've seen guys pulled off of normal troubles and put on CLEC troubles in order to increase parity.
However I still don't see how more federal regulations will help. I don't see why the Feds don't nationalize the RBOCs with the way they wish to regulate us.