CCIA Notebook...
Breaux-Nickles broadband bill would be good for broadband equipment providers and related industries, Sen. Breaux (D-La.) told CCIA of his legislation co-sponsored with Senate Minority Whip Nickles (R-Okla.). Breaux reiterated his argument that his bill -- that would require FCC to create “level playing field” of regulation for broadband providers without mandating any new regulations on any industries -- took decision out of “politics” of Congress. He said move would mean that process “cannot be accused of being political,” but he didn’t address fact that it would permit FCC only one course of action -- namely, deregulation of Bell companies. House Judiciary Courts, Internet & Intellectual Property Subcommittee ranking Democrat Berman (Cal.) put CCIA members on spot on broadband issue. When pressed for his reaction to call by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chmn. Lieberman (D-Conn.) for long-term broadband policy comparable to landing men on moon, Berman said he wasn’t good at big-picture thinking. He asked CCIA members why, exactly, broadband should be equated with moon shot, or even with universal health care or housing. Only response he received was that there was overabundance of broadband fiber that needed to be used, and that service providers lacked incentives to connect that fiber to homes. Berman smiled and said he didn’t see how that should be of concern to consumers.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
--
As technology and markets change, FCC has to “recalibrate” its processes, with DTV proceeding being one of prime examples of when that’s needed, FCC Chief of Staff Marsha MacBride said Tues. at conference sponsored by Computer & Communications Industry Assn. DTV time frame was too short because there wasn’t enough understanding of how long it would take for consumer adoption, she said. FCC has “tried everything” to get DTV off ground and maybe Congress will step in and decide what to do, she said. DTV issues have become even more difficult with “the new complication of digital rights management” (DRM), which policymakers and industry haven’t “entirely figured out” yet, MacBride said. DRM is “a really hard issue for government,” she said. She agreed that “the true issues of DRM are industry issues” but asked “how long can we wait to see what industry will accept” as starting point? FCC is only “tangential” player in DRM, she added. Other example was “unrealistic expectations” for local phone competition and obvious inability to predict changes in industry brought on by growth of Internet and wireless calling, MacBride said. In addition, court decisions have put FCC in “the terrible, terrible situation of being in a do-over mode,” she said. She said FCC in several proceedings had been asking for “lessons learned” input from industry on local competition issue and one thing agency decided was that there was “need for greater granularity,” focusing regulatory and deregulatory decisions on smaller areas of country rather than setting nationwide requirements. On universal service: “Things are changing and we have to monitor developments.” Universal service regime “might need to be tweaked somewhat.” On another topic, MacBride said broadband is good for consumers but “it’s a matter of how to create incentives to build out,” she said. That requires FCC to “take baby steps” because “no one knows what the end should be.” -- EH
--
There’s no question that numerous companies, many small, have innovative homeland security solutions that aren’t being heard by federal govt., House Minority Whip Pelosi (D-Cal.) admitted Tues. She is ranking Democrat on newly formed select committee chaired by House Majority Leader Armey (R- Tex.) that will report bill to create Dept. of Homeland Security to House floor. “This is a big undertaking,” she said of new department, and “they're going to have to build into that” way to review pertinent private-sector input, particularly from companies without large lobbying houses or ties to influential members of Congress. Pelosi also expressed concern that White House, while focused on “rearranging the box” of departments for homeland security, hadn’t recognized that each part of bureaucracy being moved was “going to have new challenges and need[ed] more resources.” She said President Bush didn’t plan to add any more funding for new department until FY 2004, concern she shared with Senate Governmental Affairs Chmn. Lieberman (D- Conn.). Among 4 units proposed in new Dept. of Homeland Security is agency that would be tasked with protecting U.S. critical infrastructure, including telecom and Internet networks.
--
CCIA has been hosting annual meetings in Washington for years, but this year’s appeared slimmer in terms of attendance. We were told registration for this year’s event was “48-52,” slightly less than recent years. However, those actually in the room for addresses by various members of Congress rarely topped 20, with some of those in attendance CCIA employees. Numerous name badges remained unclaimed outside Willard-Intercontinental Hotel conference room being used by CCIA midway through conference’s 2nd day.