PC World columnist Mark Sullivan last month penned a column in which he listed the five most "anti-tech" industries in America. On that list twice were the folks at AT&T and Verizon, not only for their positions against network neutrality, but also for their history of shirking rural Americans when it comes to broadband penetration. Sullivan says he got to meet up with AT&T and Verizon's top lobbyists at CES, who tried to correct his perceptions.

Jim Ciccione, AT&T's head lobbyist beats the traditional deregulatory drum, telling Sullivan that it's the "regulatory environment in the U.S." that is making it hard to increase broadband speed and availability. Of course in reality the last two FCC bosses have been great friends to the telcos and deregulated the industry substantially. Meanwhile AT&T's fastest speed offered to consumers is 6Mbps, a choice that had more to do with impatient investors than regulation.

While Verizon has done a great job with FiOS in major markets, rural DSL isn't enough of a money maker for the company, which is clearly why it isn't deployed. However, Verizon VP of Public Policy Tom Tauke blames the math for the lack of rural broadband in America. OECD data that shows the United States is fifteenth in broadband penetration simply isn't reliable, insists the lobbyist.Both Ciccione and Tauke also called for a complete overhaul of the FCC, insisting it was no longer relevant for the modern market. That's ironic, given that most consumer advocates would tell you that the FCC has become irrelevant because it has given the industry's major phone companies everything they've wanted (franchise reform, the elimination of line sharing, fewer price restrictions) consistently for the better part of the last decade.

It's likely the folks at both companies fear a changing of the FCC guard with the coming election, and wouldn't mind having the agency's wings clipped -- just in case Commissioner Michael J. Copps, a frequent telco critic, gets the nod as the new FCC boss.