Telecom Not Presidential Candidates’ Top Priority, Say Surrogates

The financial crisis, wars and healthcare policy likely will be higher priorities than telecom for either candidate, surrogates said. However, Obama sees telecom policy as feeding into many of the bigger problems, Irving said. For example, the Illinois senator believes promoting broadband deployment will help the economy, Irving said. McCain will delegate telecom policy to the FCC while he deals with the financial crisis and other pressing issues, Dunn said. The Arizona senator will “watch and see” how the financial crisis affects the telecom industry, she said.

Obama and McCain differ most “starkly” on universal service, Irving said. Obama called for updated broadband speed definitions and a national deployment strategy almost a year ago, he said. Obama wants to modify USF so it subsidizes broadband, not fading switch-based technology. McCain has advocated USF reform for years, and he will continue to do so, Dunn said. McCain previously suggested giving USF subsidies to individuals, she said.

The candidates also differ on network management policy. Obama backs legislation to ensure an open, free and “democratic” Internet, Irving said. McCain believes legislation would be premature, and would prefer the market sort out the problem, said Dunn. The Arizona senator plans to “watch and monitor the situation,” she said.

McCain and Obama want to promote telecom competition, surrogates said. Obama wants “more choices” and “lower prices” for consumers, but also believes more oversight is needed, Irving said. The 1996 Telecom Act has failed, and that’s why McCain voted against it, Dunn said. McCain believes consumers should be the “driving force” for any FCC regulation, she said.

Probably neither Obama nor McCain will specifically deal with competitor access to the last mile, Irving said. But Obama will look at new technologies and other ways to promote facilities-based competition, he said. That will get telecom out of this “regulatory morass,” he said. A focus on new solutions will be part of McCain’s policy too, Dunn said. But McCain will encourage the FCC to ensure competitors have last-mile access, she said. Neither candidate has said much about special access, surrogates said. But McCain believes the issue should be “studied,” Dunn said.

Obama and McCain haven’t called for or rejected revamping the forbearance process, though legislation is pending, surrogates said. The issue is big for CLECs, which say incumbents have exploited the system with late filings, and object to the “deemed granted” provision, which has allowed petitions to pass with 2-2 FCC tie votes. Obama wants a more open and transparent government, Irving said. To the extent a process is undermining good regulation, Obama would be in favor of revising it, he said. McCain hasn’t reviewed legislation on the forbearance process, but also would advocate a transparent process, Dunn said. All parties agree the forbearance process is broken, she said. To prevent deemed-granted decisions after Commissioner Deborah Tate leaves the FCC, both candidates seek to speedily fill the vacant seat on the commission, surrogates said.

Obama would make the FCC a more transparent agency, Irving said in an interview. That would include upgrading a solid but dated FCC Web site, which Irving called a “beautiful ‘58 Thunderbird … in a world of [Toyota] Priuses.” Also, Obama would require the FCC to post items for public viewing faster and give people a better sense of the agency’s schedule, he said. The FCC already gives notice about meetings, but “there’s so much stuff that happens in between … that people wonder [about],” Irving said. “You can use technology to solve some of those problems.”