The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1542, the controversial so-called “Tauzin-Dingell” telecommunications legislation, by a wide margin — 272–158 — on Feb. 27. The House adopted two amendments to the bill, including one that would increase the fines telephone companies pay for violating the 1996 act, but it rejected a proposal to uphold the existing authority of the FCC and state regulatory agencies to regulate the Bell companies. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.
H.R. 1542 would release the former Regional Bell Operating Companies (SBC, Verizon, Qwest, and Bell South) from the limitations of the 1996 Telecommunications Act on providing long distance data services across the service-area lines without opening their local phone exchanges to competition. Even though the bill would continue the limitation on voice services, competitors and consumer groups are strongly fighting this legislation because they believe it would eliminate the incentive to competition.
Tens of millions of advertising and lobbying dollars have been spent in Washington, D.C. and across the country on both sides of the bill. NACo has not taken a position on the entire bill, but strongly opposes language in the legislation that would preempt state and local regulatory authorities.
NACo’s concerns were outlined in a joint letter to the House leadership signed by the executive directors of NACo, the National League of Cities, the National Governors Association, Council of State Governments and the International City/County Management Association.
The bill faces a very uncertain future in the Senate. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest “Fritz” Hollings (D-S.C.) has made it clear he opposes the approach taken in H.R.1542, and has, in the past, berated Bell executives for their “monopolistic tendencies.”
Also against the bill are Sens. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who was a conferee on the 1996 Act, Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), and minority leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.). Mississippi is home to WorldCom, one of H.R. 1542’s largest opponents. This opposition makes it very unlikely the bill will pass in its present form and be on President George W. Bush’s desk before the end of the 107th Congress.
There is some optimism from members of the Internet Caucus that accommodations can be reached with the Senate to meet their concerns and allow some form of the bill to move through to the president. At this point, such speculation may be premature.
Only 10 percent of Americans have broadband access. About 68 percent of them get it through cable television modems, while 28 percent use digital subscriber lines, known as DSL, provided by regional telephone companies.
