VERIZON SEEKS COMMON GROUND WITH CABLE ON BROADBAND LEGISLATION
Verizon Senior Vp Thomas Tauke told reporters Thurs. that company was seeking lobbying support from cable industry for new deregulated form of broadband policy that both telcos and cable could live with. He emphasized that no formal coalition had been formed, although 2 sides have had “discussions.” Tauke said he envisioned 3rd “basket” of regulations, separate from traditional cable and telephony models, that would apply only to broadband services. Under that scenario, broadband networks would be lightly regulated, along wireless telephony model, he said.
Such action would require legislation, although Tauke emphasized that concept was different from broadband relief bill in House last year that would have let Bells offer interLATA broadband services without getting Sec. 271 approval. New campaign takes broader look at easing Sec. 251 regulations requiring ILECs to offer unbundled network elements, line splitting and host of other requirements. While Sec. 271 relief still is important, Tauke said, “almost equal if not greater” need is “getting some clarity on how the broadband world will be governed going forward.” He said such regulations would remain for traditional copper wire networks but not for new broadband services where Bells don’t have large market share compared with cable. Broadband “basket” would have only limited regulation, such as interference limits, standards and interconnection requirements so customers could communicate with each other. “That’s the kind of model you have in wireless,” Tauke said.
New move by Verizon and other phone companies comes as cable executives continue stoutly resisting govt. efforts to impose open access and other regulatory conditions on Internet service over high-speed cable lines. In latest gambit, Comcast Corp. Pres. Brian Roberts urged policy makers Wed. night to “stay the course for success” and keep “removing barriers to true, facilities-based competition” between phone and cable industries. “Instead of more talk about regulatory parity between competitors, what we should talk about is deregulatory parity,” Roberts told Economic Club of Washington in dinner speech. He said right way was to “find ways to deregulate the phone companies and satellite companies, not put more regulations from an old-style monopoly onto us.”
Cable officials privately cautioned, however, that Roberts’s call for deregulatory parity did not mean that cable supported telco drive for new broadband regulatory scheme. They stressed that they still opposed reopening Telecom Act and didn’t believe new regulatory model was needed. They also said they had had no discussions yet with telco counterparts on forming broadband reform coalition. “I have no doubt they [phone companies] would like to do that,” cable official said, “but there’s no movement toward that yet.”
Nevertheless, Tauke argued that both cable and telephony could benefit from legislation that formed new middle ground. Neither side wants each other’s regulations, he said. “Obviously they don’t want to be included in Title 2 and we don’t want to get caught in the cable trap, the local franchise world,” he said. However, recent ruling by 9th U.S. Appeals Court, San Francisco, that cable-delivered Internet access qualified as telephony service was making cable operators nervous, he said.
Tauke said plan would be on same lines as draft revisions in Communications Act’s Title 7 that were under consideration during drafting of 1996 Telecom Act but weren’t included in final bill. He said Title 7 draft, like his plan, had envisioned separate regulatory structure for broadband services. He said wireless was good model for broadband because it had flourished under deregulation and had benefited consumers through innovative pricing and service plans. “You wouldn’t have this kind of wireless environment if the FCC had made a strong regulatory move,” he said. Wireless has “no economic regulation and minimal rules,” lacks “artificial boundaries” imposed on wireline world and shows market-driven service “can work,” he said.