WASHINGTON—The National Association of Regulatory Commissioners said Wednesday that state commissions should take into consideration the possibility of legislation pre-empting state regulation of wireless services when deciding whether to grant mobile-phone carriers the right to receive universal-service subsidies.
“NARUC urges state commissions to consider carefully whether the public interest, convenience and necessity are served should states be pre-empted from regulating ‘terms and conditions’ of wireless services,” reads a resolution passed by NARUC at its summer convention in San Francisco.
The wireless pre-emption language “negates the ability of state commissions to appropriately exercise ongoing oversight of wireless carriers who are receiving, in some cases, millions of dollars in universal-service support,” said NARUC.
In many states, the commissions are given the job of determining whether wireless carriers are eligible telecommunications carriers, which is necessary to receive universal-service support.
The wireless pre-emption language violates “fundamentally the fiduciary responsibility a government agency such as a state commission must exercise in its oversight of universal-service funding,” said NARUC.
Rural wireline carriers often fight wireless ETC designations and some commissions have conditioned ETC designation on certain service-quality goals.
Pre-emption of wireless state regulation was left out of the telecommunications-reform bill passed by the House of Representatives, while wireless pre-emption, what the industry calls a nationwide framework, was included in the bill passed by the Senate Commerce Committee. The Senate bill, however, faces a significant hurdle since strong network-neutrality language was not included.
“It is our firmly held belief that wireless consumers are best served through a consistent national regulatory framework. To this point, the Senate bill strikes the proper balance for consumers by directing the Federal Communications Commission to formulate national rules and reserving to the states the right of attorneys general to investigate and prosecute bad actors who violate laws of general applicability. This is a win win for consumers,” said Joseph Farren, director of public affairs for wireless trade association CTIA.
The NARUC resolution also lists various facts and concerns about the mobile-phone industry including:
Insulating the wireless industry from one of the core competencies of states;
Violating the principles of technological neutrality and of applying even-handed oversight between wireline and wireless carriers; and
Intruding into the administration of state taxes that require or prohibit line items on customer bills.
NARUC put off endorsing a white paper on the wireless industry until its November meeting after members of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee determined it was deficient. For example, there was no reference to the impact of the upcoming auction of advanced-wireless services licenses.
