Cite as: 535 U. S. 467 (2002)
Opinion of Breyer, J.
J. Thorne, Federal Telecommunications Law 53, 86-87 (2d ed. 1999) (hereinafter Huber); P. Huber, M. Kellogg, & J. Thorne, The Geodesic Network II: 1993 Report on Competition in the Telephone Industry 2.1-2.5 (1992). That is because local telecommunications service had long demanded expensive fixed investment, for example, digging up streets to lay cables or stringing wires on overhead poles. See ante, at 489- 491. And whether, or the extent to which, a new competitor could replicate, or avoid, that kind of investment without significantly wasting resources remained unclear. See Huber 34, 206. Thus, at the time Congress wrote the new Act, technological development seemed to permit nonwasteful competition in respect to some aspects of local service; but in respect to other aspects an incumbent local telecommunications provider might continue to possess "natural monopoly" advantages. Id., at 206-207. And these circumstances made it reasonable for Congress to try to secure local competition insofar as that competition would prove economically feasible, i. e., where competition would not prove seriously wasteful. See Order ¶ 1. See also 47 U. S. C. §§ 271(c)(1)(A), 271(c)(1)(B) (recognizing that some local markets will not support more than one firm).
Third, the Act's structure and language indicate a congressional effort to secure that very end. The Act dis-mantles artificial legal barriers to new entry in local markets, thereby permitting new firms to enter if they wish. § 253(a); see ante, at 491, and n. 12. But the Act recognizes that simple permission may not prove sufficient—perhaps because the incumbent will retain a "natural monopoly" form of control over certain necessary elements of service. It consequently goes on to promote new entry in three ways. See ante, at 491-492. First, it requires incumbents to "interconnect" with new entrants (at a price determined by the regulations before us), thereby allowing a new entrant's small set of subscribers to connect with the incumbent firm's likely larger customer base. § 251(c)(2). Second, it requires
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