WASHINGTON—The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee hinted to state regulators Monday afternoon that federal pre-emption of state and local telecommunications regulations would not be included in the telecommunications-reform legislation he hopes to have the Senate Commerce Committee consider later this year. Instead, Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, indicated he prefers setting up federal-state joint boards to deal with contentious issues.
“We are interested in how Congress can simplify regulation of national companies without sacrificing the benefits of state regulation,” said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. “There are a number of other questions to pursue, including how to ensure that the goals of consumer protection are finally met. One option our committee has discussed with your leadership is the idea of creating joint boards to work out common national standards on key issues. A joint board made up of the Federal Communications Commission and state regulators could develop a national standard outlining how cell-phone bills should be printed. The FCC could adopt the standards but leave it to the states to enforce it at the local level. That may be the best of both worlds—state involvement in creating national standards that are enforced locally.”
Stevens was the featured speaker at the winter meeting of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also pleaded for state-regulator support for his concept of network neutrality.
At least one member of the FCC appeared receptive to Stevens’ idea, but FCC Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said joint boards are not the only way for state regulators to be involved.
“There may be some other concepts rather than joint boards as we know it,” said Tate, noting there are regional fishery boards that have federal, state and local members. “However the dialogue gets started, I hope it continues.”
Later, speaking with reporters, Stevens lumped the cell-phone font-size joint board idea with an idea for a joint board to deal with the video-franchising issue—a favored topic of the Bell operating companies.
Under Steven’s plan, a joint board would be authorized in a telecom-reform bill. The board would include both state regulators and members of the Federal Communications Commission, and would make recommendations to Congress about further changes in law sometime next year.
Under the current joint-board process used for universal service, the FCC refers an issue to the body—such as whether support should be given for second lines. The joint board is given a deadline of no more than a year. The commission then has one year from receiving the joint board’s recommendation to act. The entire process can take at least two years—issues from the Telecommunications Act of 1996 are still being actively considered by the universal-service joint board.
Stevens did not seem to believe that his process would take this long, but rather that it was a way to make sure that state regulators are involved in the process.
CTIA has been working with Congress and the FCC to have states cut out of the process. The organization argues that national service needs national rules. Dane Snowden, CTIA vice president of state and external affairs, reiterated this position when asked about Stevens’ proposal.
This theme is also expected to be highlighted Tuesday afternoon when Michael Altschul, CTIA general counsel & senior vice president, appears before the Senate Commerce Committee as it examines the issue of municipal broadband, and state and local regulation.
“For competitive services that operate without regard to jurisdictional boundaries, exclusive federal regulation makes the most economic sense. Allowing states and local governments to regulate national markets increases the costs associated with advertising, pricing and regulatory compliance. Thus a balkanized-regulatory framework increases the costs of deploying new and innovative services and can hinder consumers’ access to the benefits such services offer,” Altshcul is expected to explain.
