BOUCHER URGES USTA TO OPPOSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ROLE IN TELECOM
Rep. Boucher (D-Va.) urged USTA members to start lobbying to prevent Judiciary Committees in both houses of Congress from acquiring additional jurisdiction over telecom legislation. At USTA conference in Washington Wed., he also asked USTA to press Judiciary members to reject ALTS proposal that would require structural separation of ILECs’ network and wholesale units before offering interLATA data services, a measure he claimed was being orchestrated with support of long distance companies.
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Boucher said Senate Judiciary Committee Chmn. Hatch (R-Utah) supported change in committee jurisdiction and he expected House Judiciary members such as Rep. Cannon (R-Utah) and ranking Democrat Conyers (Mich.) to support ALTS proposal. He said ALTS plan to have structural separation bill pushed through Judiciary Committee, rather than through House Commerce Committee, was latest strategy to block anticipated legislation from Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) that would enable Bell companies to offer advanced service across LATA boundaries. ALTS didn’t return calls by our deadline.
Judiciary Committee indeed will assert itself on issue, staffer for lawmaker on Committee promised, but “the Judiciary Committee has always played a role” on telecom issues. “To characterize us as ’stealing’ jurisdiction would be inaccurate,” staffer said, pointing out that Boucher himself has tried to route bills such as last year’s open access bill through Judiciary. Conyers is on record as being friendlier to CLECs than Dingell, while Sensenbrenner’s views are largely unknown. But staffer said it was not matter of having “different perspectives on these issues… The Telecom Act has its roots in antitrust… Sensenbrenner should be asserting the committee’s jurisdiction.” “We're certainly not interested in going outside whatever should come before the Committee,” Sensenbrenner spokesman said, but he added that chmn. had promised to “defend issues within the committee’s jurisdiction.” Spokesman said he was not aware of any position Sensenbrenner had taken yet on ILEC/CLEC battles.
However, Conyers hasn’t decided to support structural separation bill with Cannon, Conyers staffer told us: “That is not true. I don’t know where [Boucher] got that.” Staffer said Conyers “may be working on something… to help competition in the local market, but there have been no specifics decided upon.”
On another topic, Boucher said he supported deregulation of ILEC data services, but suggested that Congress insert provision guaranteeing competitive open access to all network systems, not just those operated by ILECs, to avoid regulatory disparity. “This disparity cannot and should not exist, and it’s time for a new policy,” he said, emphasizing that open access currently didn’t apply to cable companies other than recently merged AOL Time Warner. He said open access requirement would increase chances of broader congressional support, evident last year in defeat of similar broadband deregulatory legislation that lacked open access provision.
Boucher also said he met recently with FCC Comrs. Ness and Furchtgott-Roth to discuss possible changes in reciprocal compensation policy, which he described as a “perverse subsidy” enjoyed by CLECs: “It’s a scam that should end… The time has come to end this abuse” by CLECs, which he said receive compensation for carrying Internet-bound traffic at 20 times rate of ILECs. He said he and other members of House Commerce Committees supported changing to “bill-and-keep” compensation method.
Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.) told USTA “outdated structure of the FCC” created “tremendous administrative inefficiencies,” thereby enabling some industry players to “game the system,” evidenced he said by disparate outcomes of Commission proceedings that “often are unfair to one industry segment or another.” He said he was hopeful that FCC Chmn. Powell would implement restructuring: “If not, I'm confident that Congress can lend him a helping hand.”
Dingell said Congress would pass broadband deregulatory legislation this year, causing “rapid and ubiquitous” broadband deployment. He predicted swift passage in House, but said he anticipated more opposition in Senate.