The FCC should consider several ‘unique interests’ of local govts...

the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the International Municipal Lawyers Assn., the National Assn. of Counties, the National Assn. of Telecom Officers & Advisors and the Alliance for Community Media. They told Powell a fair and effective VoIP policy should: (1) Preserve local govt. authority to provide police power protection. As regulators of last resort, local govts. must act when citizens require police power protection not asserted by federal or state authorities. (2) Give local govts., which are among the largest consumers of wired and wireless services, “fair treatment” as customers or consumers of VoIP. They should be granted access to “fair services at fair prices.” (3) Provide adequate compensation for resources that local govts. commit to VoIP such as rent for use of public land. VoIP providers also should pay a fair share of taxes in a broad- based taxation system, they said. The group said the FCC should ensure that no action was taken that limited the ability of local govts. to provide VoIP services, given that many municipalities now provided telecom and cable services. The entities urged the agency to refrain from acting on several pending VoIP proceeding until it had completed its work in the proposed broader proceeding that would address general VoIP issues. “Local government is concerned that piecemeal consideration of VoIP in separate proceedings will limit the Commission’s ability to develop a rational approach to VoIP as a whole.” They said they also believed that a holistic approach to VoIP regulation should include telling Congress that the FCC lacked the authority or ability under current law to preserve universal service, to enact customer safeguards and other problems. “Technological changes have outpaced the regulatory environment established by the Communications Act.”