House Introduces Their Thoughts On Telecom Reform - And They Actually Look Good!
from the looks-like-a-good-start dept
Over the summer, Senator John Ensign introduced a telecom reform act that was pretty much the dream legislation of incumbent telco providers. It had some good, deregulatory ideas included, but also a few things that clearly favored the big incumbents over new upstarts. Now, the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce committee introduced their own thoughts on reforming the Telco Act of 1996. Again, this bill seems to have a lot of good ideas in it. It takes the states out of the process (which the states will hate), and gives the regulatory power to the feds. This is a good thing, in that it keeps providers from having to obey fifty different sets of laws in order to offer nationwide service. It also would basically mandate network neutrality -- saying that providers cannot block any service, though leaving open the ability for them to block things for security reasons. Also, unlike the Senate bill, this one would allow for muni-broadband, assuming the munis follow the same regulations as other providers. There are a few small things that are a concern, but overall most of the points make sense. All in all, it actually looks like a fairly decent set of guidelines for an actual bill -- which probably means it has no chance of getting anywhere.
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Dear Cluelorn
It had...a few things that clearly favored the big incumbents over new upstarts... Now [g-men] have introduced their own thoughts on reforming the Telco Act of 1996. Again, this bill seems to have a lot of good ideas in it. It takes the states out of the process (which the states will hate), and gives the regulatory power to the feds. This is a good thing, in that it keeps providers from having to obey fifty different sets of laws in order to offer nationwide service.
Because the Little Guy is all about nationwide service, right? That feature doesn't do a thing for your backyard mom-and-pop provider but its very handy for ... a big nationwide incumbent. Why don't you talk to some of these "new upstarts" about this *before* you start making sweeping claims of a brave new world?
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Re: Dear Cluelorn
Sure, it helps the upstarts as well, because (a) the laws are much clearer even within a state (but also if they want to expand) and the other points (such as network neutrality) help them out. If you have complaints, explain what they are with the bill... but I'm unclear on how having 50 different sets of regulation *helps* anyone....
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