BREAUX WOULD HAVE FCC CREATE BELL AND CABLE REGULATORY PARITY
Sen. Breaux (D-La.) disclosed that bill he was drafting would give FCC 90 days to eliminate regulatory distinctions between Bells and cable industry in provision of high-speed Internet services. If FCC, with congressional approval, could create such parity, “it would allow the phone companies to move into this area very quickly,” he said in keynote to Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) in Washington. He said Tauzin-Dingell data deregulation bill (HR-1542) would create such regulatory parity but “could not pass in the Senate.” He intends to unveil his legislation “in the next week or so,” but wouldn’t reveal whether he had any co-sponsors.
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House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) told us in interview that he was “very supportive” of the Breaux bill. He said it would “send a strong signal to the FCC” that Congress wanted agency to apply same broadband rules across board, whether for cable companies, satellite providers or ILECs: “Hopefully that means less, not more, regulation.” Tauzin said one item Breaux measure was “missing is interLATA relief,” but he said Breaux’s decision not to try to re- regulate cable was “the most logical way to achieve parity.”
Tauzin said bill came as no surprise, emphasizing his acknowledgment before Senate Commerce Committee that he didn’t expect Tauzin-Dingell to make it through Senate as currently written. He said Breaux’s approach to broadband deployment didn’t undermine what HR-1542 attempted to accomplish. Rather, he said, it would help facilitate goals of Tauzin-Dingell: “Breaux may be on to something. His bill is very complementary to what we're trying to do.”
Breaux said Congress could provide general road map for broadband deployment, but “it’s appropriate for the FCC to provide the details” on specific rules and regulations. Despite vehement opposition by Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. Hollings (D-S.C.) to Tauzin-Dingell, there has been overall support in Senate to provide incentives for broadband deployment. Breaux said he expected broad support for his bill, “but the question is whether we can get 60 votes or so” to break possible filibuster.
Bells must “jump through hoops” before providing broadband service, while “cable providers in general” have monopoly in nearly every community in the U.S., he said. Although cable providers often voluntarily enter into network access agreements with Internet service providers, Bells have no choice in negotiating such access, he said. Breaux said he didn’t expect opposition from cable industry: “I think the cable companies can live with this legislation. It does not regulate them.”
CompTel Asst. Gen. Counsel Robert McDowell said if Bells truly wanted regulatory parity, they should offer to give up subsidies, such as those received through universal service and access charges: “The label ‘regulatory parity’ is very misleading. Regulatory parity is a faulty premise and a red herring.” AT&T spokesman said it was difficult to comment on legislation company hadn’t seen, but rejected notion that Bell deregulation was answer to broadband deployment: “We believe that deregulating an industry that remains a monopoly is problematic to say the least. To the extent the legislation would deregulate the Bell monopolies, it’s something we certainly would oppose.”
USTA spokeswoman said: “We are fully supportive of Senator Breaux’s efforts to bring regulatory parity to broadband providers. We are pleased that the Senate is seriously looking at this issue.” BellSouth spokesman said: “It’s clear that Tauzin-Dingell is a nonstarter in the Senate,” but the Breaux bill shows “there’s recognition in the Senate” that encouraging broadband deployment is beneficial to the economy.