DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS PROMOTE UNIVERSAL BROADBAND

With the Ia. caucuses and N.H. primary being critical early tests for most candidates, broadband deployment often is presented as a rural issue. Dean, Clark, Senate Governmental Affairs Committee ranking Democrat Lieberman (Conn.), Sens. Kerry (D-Mass.), Edwards (D-N.C.), and Rep. Gephardt (D-Mo.) all tie broadband to the rural economy. Said Dean: “Expanding broadband will be a national priority in the Dean administration and I will work to find innovative ways, like expanding the availability of wireless technologies, to bring broadband to rural areas,” Dean said. Clark has vowed to “devote the resources necessary to achieve universal broadband access as quickly as possible to allow rural hospitals and schools to better serve rural populations and to level the playing field for rural businesses.”

Edwards has called for an expansion of unlicensed spectrum, touting it as a means of delivering broadband to rural America. He praised the FCC’s decision to open more spectrum, but said the action didn’t go far enough and still would not lead to effective broadband coverage in rural areas. “We need to open up more low-frequency spectrum to help bring broadband to every corner of America,” he said. As part of his job-creation proposal, Edwards has set a goal of achieving universal broadband access within 4 years. “Broadband is a vital tool to help businesses expand in rural and inner-city urban areas,” he said, and the universal service fund (USF) and e-rate program could make broadband more affordable. The FCC currently is weighing whether USF should be used to promote broadband, and how various sectors would contribute to that effort.

Gephardt supports expanding the USF to grow broadband, and promotes his long support for the e-rate program. He said having “more Americans on broadband connections will stimulate every corner of the high-tech economy, while ensuring that all segments of society can benefit from the opportunities provided by a networked world.” He has called for every American to have broadband access by the end of the decade and, along with Kerry, has supported broadband tax credit legislation for rural or underserved areas as well as companies that invested in next-generation Internet services. Lieberman introduced legislation (S-2582) in the last Congress that would require the President to develop a broadband policy, and he also supports broadband tax credits.

Clark Would Eliminate NTIA

Clark’s plan to eliminate NTIA is part of a streamlined govt. plan that he contended would save $225 billion. The very first component of that plan is the elimination of NTIA: “With the convergence of telecommunications and technology, there’s no longer a need for both the Commerce Department’s Technology Administration (TA) and its National Telecommunications & Information Administration,” Clark says in a white paper on his govt. reform plan. He would shift NTIA’s “core governmental functions such as research and efforts to close the digital divide” to TA and other agencies. The Bush Administration earlier this year circulated a plan to fold NTIA into TA, but it met resistance on Capitol Hill.

No statement on telecom policy has drawn more attention than Dean’s Nov. 19 statement in the Washington Post alluding to “re-regulation” of business, including possibly the telecom industry. The statement has brought criticism from other candidates -- most notably Lieberman -- and questions from telecom insiders about what precisely he meant. The Dean campaign didn’t respond to an interview request.

Industry sources who followed Dean’s record in Vt. described him as moderate when dealing with the Vt. Public Service Board (PSB). “His appointees leaned slightly toward being pro-consumer,” a source said. When it came time to implement the Telecom Act of 1996, another source said, Dean and the PSB let other states “lead the way.” The regulatory regime over Verizon probably was less stringent than RBOCs faced in other states. The Vt. PSB eventually put a price- cap regime on Verizon, but only after several other states had implemented it first, the source said.

While the “re-regulation” comment has worried some deregulatory-minded telecom insiders, many speculate Dean was focusing his attention on larger media companies. That hasn’t tempered criticism of his “re-regulation” ideas. Lieberman said Dean “would usher in a new era of big government.” And Clark, whose staff includes former advisers to President Clinton, has blasted Dean for “throwing out” Clinton’s “proven” deregulatory policies that created what he called the “largest economic expansion in history.”

Union Support Tied to RBOCs

CWA Political Dir. Michael Grace said the union hadn’t endorsed a candidate and wasn’t likely to do so before the primary. CWA has a history of supporting Democratic candidates in the Presidential race. Grace said Dean, Kerry, Gephardt, Rep. Kucinich (D-O.) and Lieberman all had supported CWA during its contract negotiations with Verizon.

Some of the Democratic candidates are likely to be friendly to RBOCs, given the ties to the union. One source said Gephardt was “plugged into” CWA and had a tendency to be “pro-Bell,” and particularly pro-SBC. Gephardt voted for final passage of the Tauzin-Dingell deregulation bill, but one source said he essentially “split his vote” since he voted in favor of amendments from House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Democrat Markey (Mass.) and House Judiciary Committee ranking Democrat Conyers (Mich.) that were less friendly to Bell interests. Kucinich didn’t support Tauzin-Dingell.

Gephardt has acquired the most congressional endorsements with 34, none of whom are senators. However, he is supported by House Minority Leader Pelosi (D-Cal.), Minority Whip Hoyer (D-Md.), House Judiciary Courts, Internet & Intellectual Property ranking Democrat Berman (D-Cal.) and subcommittee member Schiff (D-Cal.), and House Commerce Committee member Green (D-Tex.). Kerry has 21 endorsements, including Markey, House Financial Services Committee ranking Democrat Frank (Mass.) and the rest of the Mass. delegation, as well as Sen. Feinstein (D-Cal.).

Dean has 19 congressional endorsements, including Senate Internet Caucus Co-Chmn. Leahy (D-Vt.), who also is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and House Select Homeland Security Cybersecurity Subcommittee ranking Democrat Lofgren (Cal.). Other prominent Dean supporters include House Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee ranking Democrat Nadler (N.Y.) and Crime Subcommittee ranking Democrat Scott (Va.), and Homeland Security Committee member Sanchez (D-Cal.). Lieberman has 14 endorsements, including Sen. Carper (D-Del.), who has led the fight against a permanent Internet tax moratorium. Clark has 12 Hill endorsements, Edwards 8, and former Sen. Carol Braun (D-Ill.) and Rev. Al Sharpton 2 each. Kucinich’s lone congressional endorsement is from Rep. Woolsey (D-Cal.).