BLACKOUTS WON'T DIVERT ATTENTION FROM TELECOM IN HOUSE COMMERCE
The House Energy & Commerce Committee said last week’s electricity blackouts wouldn’t affect its telecom agenda once Congress returned in Sept. The Committee already has announced one hearing to examine the cause of the blackouts and some industry officials worried that the issue could monopolize legislator and committee time and divert them from telecom and Internet issues.
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House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) announced Fri. a full committee hearing to examine the blackouts when it returned in Sept. Those invited to testify at the 2-day hearing Sept. 3 and 4 include Energy Secy. Spencer Abraham, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chmn. Pat Wood, N.Y. Gov. George Pataki and N.Y.C. Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Tauzin said the blackouts were the worst in American history and “highlight the critical need for Congress to enact a comprehensive national energy bill this year. We simply cannot afford to wait any longer -- our economy and our way of life are at stake.”
Committee spokesman Ken Johnson said the blackouts wouldn’t affect the telecom agenda: “Unless the lights go out in Congress, it’s not going to affect our work. We have the manpower and resources to handle both our telecom agenda and our investigation of last week’s electricity blackouts.” The Committee did significant work on energy legislation at the beginning of the session, and a House-Senate conference on a comprehensive energy proposal is pending. An aide to a member of the Commerce Committee said that issue was likely to get more attention by conferees and wasn’t likely monopolize too much of the panel’s time.
Some in industry speculated that the measure could divert some attention from telecom and Internet. Issues awaiting attention from the House Commerce Committee include spam, E-911, the DTV transition, E-rate program and, potentially, universal service. “This is a crisis of huge proportions and it does take precedence,” said Robert McDowell, CompTel vp-gen. counsel. “The committee and the conferees have to deal with this in an urgent matter. It will take up time and effort that otherwise would have been spent on other issues.”
With many of its members being UNE-P based CLECs, McDowell hinted that a diversion from telecom might be just what was wanted by the committee chmn. who supported ending UNE-P requirements in the FCC’s Triennial Review. “We're just as happy to see them focus on energy matters,” he said. “The best for America is for them to address this energy issue.”
It was unclear whether investigation of the blackout would have any effect on the Senate side. Energy issues are addressed in the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee, and the Senate Commerce Committee appears to have no direct jurisdiction over investigation of the blackout.
John Windhausen, ALTS pres., said while the blackout didn’t directly affect telecom, some philosophical parallels might be drawn by legislators. “It could heighten the need for redundance” in the telecom networks, he said. “Philosophically, it could bleed over into telecom, as legislators would likely be much more attuned to creating a diverse telecom network.” Facilities-based carriers might be seen as building separate networks that were “vital to security and to protecting the integrity of the entire network,” Windhausen said.
One issue that’s likely to receive some attention is wireless priority access, which received its first big test during the blackout (CD Aug 18 p1). The blackout is likely to put more attention on service in times of crisis, said Don Erickson, OPASTCO legislative dir. “There needs to be a national, reliable network during times of national emergency,” he said. Erickson said the blackout issue could draw more attention to fixing problems with the universal service fund, which he said helped fund the creation of a reliable network.
House Homeland Security Chmn. Cox (R-Cal.) said his committee also would examine the blackout, with particular focus on how they affected cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. He said the committee would hold a series of hearings on the vulnerability of the power supply and other critical infrastructure. Officials have said there’s no connection between the blackouts and terrorism, including cyberterrorism. “The denial of electrical service for an extended period of time causes a dangerous ripple effect of death and destruction across virtually all our nation’s civic and economic sectors,” Cox said.