STEVENS FORESEES TELECOM ACT II IN 2005
Congress will look to rewrite at least portions of current telecom law as early as 2005, Senate Appropriations Chmn. Stevens (R-Alaska) told a USTA Leadership Conference Mon. in Washington. Stevens, who said he “hoped” to take the reins of the Senate Commerce Committee beginning in 2005, laid out a road map for telecom policy that would feature a significant effort to revise parts of the Telecom Act of 1996.
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Stevens, a 7-term senator who turned 80 in Nov., said he would pursue the chairmanship of the Commerce Committee in 2005. Republican senators are bound by self-imposed term limits for committee chairmanships. Stevens and Commerce Committee John McCain (R-Ariz.) will see their leadership terms expire after this session. Senators elect committee chairmen, and Stevens said he was hopeful he would get the nod. Observers said he was virtually assured of the position.
In emphasizing the need for telecom reform, Stevens articulated what many Hill staffers and industry observers have said they foresaw for the near future: Little action in 2004 but significant efforts to begin telecom reform in 2005. Lobbyists and Hill staffers have referred to the idea of “Telecom Act II” or the “Telecom Act of 2006.” Stevens acknowledged that comprehensive legislative telecom reform could take years to accomplish.
Stevens offered few specifics, but said legislative efforts would seek “regulatory parity” to create a “level playing field, not a tilting table.” He appealed for ideas and communication with ILECs. He said universal service fund (USF) reform would be the other major telecom initiative he would advocate should he become Commerce Committee chair. USF reform should begin by requiring more parties to pay into the system, he said. Stevens has advocated requiring broadband providers to pay into the USF system.
Hill and industry sources also predicted Rep. Barton (R- Tex.), widely believed to be the front runner for a possible opening for House Commerce Committee chairman, also would push a telecom agenda that would include a major overhaul of telecom policy. Current House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) has been in talks with industry associations and is expected by many to leave the House before the end of the term (CD Jan 26 p1).
It’s highly unlikely any significant legislation will move this year, Stevens said, because election years tend to distract some senators with campaigning and make it hard to push controversial legislation. He said he would like to see Enhanced 911 (E911) funding legislation pass this year, but said its spending requirements make it controversial. S- 1250, sponsored by Senate Communications Subcommittee Chmn. Burns (R-Mont.), requests $500 million a year for E911 deployment, compared with the $100 million-a-year price tag on E911 legislation that already has passed the House (HR- 2989). Stevens said carriers were having trouble building out E911 technology because of other regulatory requirements, including local number portability.
Stevens also had high praise for Sen. Inouye (D-Hawaii), who’s slated to become the Committee’s ranking Democrat after current ranking Democrat Hollings (D-S.C.) retires upon completing his term this year. Stevens predicted a strong bipartisan working relationship between the 2 senators. They have worked together as leaders of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee. Stevens said they worked so closely they referred to each other as “co-chairmen.”
USTA Pres. Walter McCormick told the USTA that he was encouraged to hear Stevens say he understood industry problems. “Senators Stevens’s comments certainly accelerate the momentum for reform,” McCormick said: “[Stevens] made clear his desire to modernize the nation’s telecom laws.” Stevens’ address came as the USTA began a new round of advertising to consumers. The ads, which are to appear on national TV, charge that outdated regulations are holding back telecom progress.
But industry sources said Stevens might not offer all the solutions the Bells want. Sources said Stevens worked very closely with Hollings during the drafting of the 1996 Act. Hollings and Inouye have been critical and skeptical of the Bells, sources said. One industry source said: “He’s likely to support competition as long as they are required to pay into USF.” Another source said Stevens had close ties to AT&T, especially after it bought a regional Alaskan long distance provider in the late 1980s. “He’s not a Bell-head, he’s supportive of the Telecom Act,” an industry source said. However, Barton was said to be likely to support Bell positions on telecom reform, much as Tauzin had.