Telecom reform’s timing and format remain murky, but Congress wil...

eventually incorporated into a single bill, the report said. Neither is it clear whether consensus can be reached on the need to revise the ‘96 Telecom Act, the report said. Major issues expected to be addressed include: (1) Broadband Internet regulation. Two matters are at stake: The “digital divide” and regulatory treatment of broadband. Digital divide activists want the U.S. to underwrite broadband deployment in underserved rural areas, but opponents question the efficacy of intervening in the marketplace. Debate on regulating broadband technologies focuses on whether to apply legacy rules to new entrants. (2) Broadcast indecency. Pending bills would hike fines levied on violative broadcasters, apply them to performers as well as broadcast licensees and extend indecency rules to cable TV. Some say fining performers could violate the First Amendment and want pay TV exempt from indecency regulations. (3) DTV. Key issues include subsidy of converter boxes for analog TVs left dark by the digital transition, requiring cable to carry broadcasters’ multicast programming streams and letting cable downconvert digital signals for analog households. (4) FCC restructuring. Proposals fall into 2 categories: procedural changes affecting day-to-day operations and Congressionally mandate policy changes affecting agency oversight of services and industry. Some on the Hill favor changing Sunshine Act laws that keep to 2 the number of commissioners who can confer outside an official meeting to discuss FCC policy. But even with strong interest in FCC reform, “substantive changes which some believe are needed to enable the FCC to effectively regulate the converged telecom industry may remain difficult to achieve.” (5) Intercarrier compensation. Reform, while needed, is unlikely due to concern that change would hurt some carriers and consumers by shifting costs from carriers to consumers, unfairly burdening low- income consumers and putting pressure on the already troubled Universal Service Fund. It’s also hard to pursue reform without state input, since rate setting comes under state regulatory commissions. (6) Media ownership rules. Congress may provide guidance as the FCC revises its regulations to fit a 3rd U.S. Appeals Court, Philadelphia, decision overturning FCC rules relaxing multi-ownership restrictions. What’s at stake is whether the rules block mergers that could be beneficial in promoting more in- depth local news coverage versus creating behemoths that reduce the number of independent voices in the market. (7) Municipal deployment of broadband. Fierce debate over public-sector provision of what some deem a private-sector service will continue, with Congress pressed by both sides to act on the issue. (8) Public safety communications. The public safety community wants Congress to assure release of spectrum at 700 MHz for public safety. Other issues include pressure for laws that require the FCC to support 911 call centers, expand emergency alert networks and assuring access to wireline and wireless lifeline telecom services. (9) The “Savings Clause” and Monopoly Issues. The ‘96 Telecom Act’s antitrust “savings clause” figured prominently in a 2004 Supreme Court decision that the act doesn’t create new claims that go beyond existing antitrust standards. The case stirred controversy because it involved a CLEC’s access to Verizon’s network, with the House Judiciary Committee chmn. and ranking member opposing the opinion while the House Commerce Committee chmn. supported it. Congress has 4 options: leave it alone, clarify the savings phrase, amend the enforcement provisions or characterize a violation of a competitive obligation as evidence of an antimonopoly violation. (10) Universal Service Fund reform. The Senate and House Commerce Committees want to figure out how to ensure proper management of the fund and overcome fraud, waste and abuse.