Pressler Predicts Telecom Reform Won’t Pass
Congress won’t pass a telecom bill this year, ex-Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) Said Wed. at an event commemorating the Telecom Act’s 10th anniversary. “Congress holds hearings, hearings, hearings… There’s a lot of tough talk but nothing passes,” said Pressler, one of the ‘96 Act’s framers. The lag occurs because voters have scant interest in telecom policy, so bills focus on business, depriving bills of “electoral” benefit and dotting them with political dangers, he said.
Ex-Rep. Thomas Bliley (R-Va.) Echoed Pressler’s pessimism about passage. He offered advice to Rep. Barton (R-Tex.), the House Commerce Committee chmn. now working on telecom reform. “Joe, be patient. I don’t think it will take 62 years, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it took 10. These are complicated issues; they take time,” said Bliley, noting the 62 years between the 1934 Communications Act and the ‘96 Act. Pressler and Bliley, chairs of their respective Commerce Committees when the Act passed, dubbed it a success because new services and new competitors have arisen. Pressler said his only gripe is that he expected more cable competition from satellite and thought cable providers “raised rates too much and didn’t offer enough ala carte services.”
Both credited the Internet’s growth to the fact that the Telecom Act doesn’t regulate it. “Instinctively we wanted to leave the Internet alone,” said Pressler. “By design or by luck, we made the right decision not to regulate or tax the Internet,” he said. Asked what has surprised them most since passage, Bliley cited the AT&T-SBC and MCI-Verizon mergers. “If someone told me 10 years ago [these mergers would occur] I would have asked what they were smoking… I would have been dumbfounded.” Pressler said he was most surprised at the E- rate program’s success.
Pressler and Bliley spoke at an American Enterprise Institute event hosted by ex-FCC Comr. Harold Furchtgott-Roth at which FCC Chmn. Martin, who once worked for Furchtgott- Roth as an 8th floor staffer, made a cameo appearance.
Among Martin’s comments in response to questions from reporters and others: (1) The FCC is going to Tex. at week’s end (CD Feb 8 p10) to see how competitive broadband platforms are developing. Commissioners felt “it would benefit us to see them together,” he said. Along with AT&T and Verizon IPTV demonstrations, the agency will see a BPL demonstration, he said. (2) The Commission plans to vote by Fri. on a proposed rulemaking on consumer cellphone record privacy.
(3) Asked about a recent Verizon complaint about Google mooching on its network, Martin said “rather than responding to press reports,” he wants to see if Verizon or others act on such concerns. The FCC has said carriers can’t block, but it also has said carriers can charge varying prices for varying speeds, Martin added. The question with Google appears to be whether carriers can charge content providers - - something the Commission can’t comment on absent action, he said. (4) The FCC “shortly” will release a report on flaws in an earlier report that found ala carte pricing wasn’t good for consumers.
(5) The FCC is only at the questioning stage regarding Digital TV Distributed Transmission Systems (DTS), Martin said. But DTS does seem to raise issues related to other proceedings, such as one on use of white spaces, as well as a Qualcomm petition involving the 700 MHz band, he said. “The issue of how to move from a single site to multiple also raises issues in other contexts,” he said.
Furchtgott-Roth announced at the conference publication of his book that examines whether the FCC has too much power. Furchtgott-Roth said the volume -- “A Tough Act to Follow” -- questions whether the FCC’s interpretation of the law is the main factor that erodes investor confidence.