Tauke Predicts Congress Will Act on Franchising
Verizon is turning to Capitol Hill for help after getting beaten in Tex. on cable franchising, Verizon Exec. Vp. Tom Tauke told us Tues. He said early Hill contact has been favorable, but the Senate, as usual, is hard to predict. Tauke called a video franchise bill more likely as part of broader telecom legislation than as a stand- alone measure.
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Tauke, a former U.S. House member, predicted that with Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) leading the charge, the House could act quickly on franchising. He expects to see legislative language unveiled within weeks, he said. “Chmn. Barton says he wants to get it out of committee, I think to the floor, before the Aug. recess, so I'll take him at his word,” Tauke said.
Speaking at an FCBA lunch Mon. Sen. Ted Stevens (R- Alaska), chmn. of the Commerce Committee, offered encouraging words, Tauke said. “He made it clear that he supports federal legislation to eliminate the franchise requirement for those who already have the ability to deploy networks. I think that was a fairly clear signal that the key player in the Senate is formulating telecom legislation appears to be moving in the direction of addressing the franchise issue in a positive way.” Tauke said of Stevens: “He’s usually very effective when he puts his mind to something.”
The Senate is “always a challenge and it’s tough to predict what the Senate will do,” Tauke said: “You rarely lose if you bet that Congress will be slower than they think they'll be, so I don’t want to get hung up on dates.”
Tauke predicted Tues. that the Justice Dept. will approve the Verizon-MCI merger during the summer. The FCC will follow as early as Sept., depending on the Commission’s composition at the time, he said.
“We have 19 states left for approval,” he said. “It’s fair to say that Cal. has the toughest statute… We always watch Cal. Historically, Ohio has tended not to be one of the first” to sign off on mergers. But, Tauke added: “I don’t see a state that should stretch into 2006.”
Tauke has not received any complaints from large Verizon customers following the firm’s recent filing at the FCC saying its big customers as a group support the merger, he said. “We are not aware of any customer who is out opposing this transaction,” he said. “We have a lot of customers who are expressing support… We haven’t gotten any pushback from our big customers.”