IP: AISPA: What's Next after passage of Tauzin and Dingell's HR 1542

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
Organization: UltraDevices, Inc
Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 14:45:56 -0800
To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>, Dewayne Hendricks
<dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: AISPA: What's Next after passage of Tauzin and Dingell's HR 1542

03/13/2002 
                                  What's Next?
                                     AISPA
                                  Sue Ashdown
http://www.americanisps.org/1031/wrapper.jsp?PID=1031-10&CID=1031-031302A

It's a fair question to ask "what's next" after the recent passage of
Congressmen Tauzin and Dingell's HR 1542, the "Broadband Deployment
and Internet Freedom Act." As we have reported previously, Senator
Ernest Hollings, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, has called
the Tauzin-Dingell bill "blasphemy" and is 100% opposed to
consideration of any legislation that remotely resembles the
legislation that passed in the House. However, Senate rules for
procedure are quite different from the House, and amendments that
contain Tauzin-Dingell language can be offered during debate on a
range of bills the Senate will be considering throughout the year. As
a result, "vigilance" is the operative word for Senate opponents to HR
1542.

On March 20, Senator Hollings has scheduled a hearing to discuss
Tauzin-Dingell. Interestingly, the only panel members will be
Congressmen Tauzin and Dingell. According to Committee sources,
Senator Hollings intends to give Tauzin and Dingell their opportunity
to make the case for remonopolization of the telecommunications
industry, and then hold hearings later that will explore the flaws of
their approach.

It is also significant to note that a member of President Bush's
Cabinet, Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, told a group last week that
he is of the opinion that the answer to broadband deployment does not
rest in the question of "supply" (ie., Tauzin-Dingell) as much as it
does in "demand." This is a very important step for the
Administration, which is undoubtedly under intense pressure from
Congressional "Bellheads" to support the Tauzin-Dingell approach.

Secretary Evans' statement come on the heels of a "Notice of Proposed
Rule Making" (NPRM) released by the FCC. The NPRM seeks to "define the
framework by which broadband services are delivered over local
telephone network," according to the Center for Digital
Democracy. They report that the NPRM will "remove the access
requirement from the still-growing DSL broadband industry, and further
shift market power to the four remaining incumbent local exchange
carriers." Bad news.

An ISP Planet editorial gets it right when they say, "In a potential
one-two punch that could K.O.  ISPs and CLECs from the broadband
services arena, the Federal Communications Commission has initiated a
review of current regulatory requirements for incumbent local exchange
carriers' (ILECs) broadband telecommunications services."

                              Good news, bad news:
http://www.americanisps.org/1031/wrapper.jsp?PID=1031-10&CID=1031-031302B

GOOD: "Kathy Wallman, president of Wallman Strategic Consulting and
former chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau, cautioned that the
commission has merely issued a notice of proposed rulemaking. 'A lot
can happen between the issuing of the notice and the adoption of the
final proceeding,' she said," according to America's Network.

BAD: The article continues; "[FCC Chairman] Powell called the NPRM
part of a 'complete and coherent' framework that the FCC hopes to have
in place by the end of the year."

"Complete and coherent?" We doubt that Mr. Powell meant the "complete
devastation" and "coherent dismantling" of the competitive
industry. Or maybe he did.

So, the battle rages on multiple fronts. We continue to press our case
with House members, and encourage you to contact your Member of
Congress to either thank them or spank them for their vote on February
27. Next, we need to heighten awareness among Senators and their staff
regarding the impact Tauzin-Dingell type legislation would have on
your business and the customers you serve. Finally, we need to be
vocal in our support of Secretary Evans' position while, at the same
time, aggressively opposing the FCCs NPRM.

A lot of people were discouraged after the House voted to pass
Tauzin-Dingell. I prefer to follow late President Harry Truman's
admonition:

"Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on
the defensive. And don't everapologize for anything."
-- 
Robert J. Berger
UltraDevices, Inc.
257 Castro Street, Suite 223 Mt. View CA. 94041
Email: rberger () ultradevices com http://www.ultradevices.com
Voice: 650-237-0334 Fax: 408-490-2868


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