On paper, telecom reform legislation is right there in the mix, giving the mobile-phone industry hope and states heartburn about prospects for expanding federal pre-emption in a way that would further marginalize public-utility commissions, state legislatures and plaintiff attorneys in all things wireless.
In reality, the telecom bill, like other important measures before lawmakers, likely will get seriously superficial attention before dying when the 109th Congress adjourns weeks from now and fades into memory. And then next year, again.
So it is on the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. 9/11 has become a political pawn of the tallest tortured order, smeared with the equivalent of human growth hormones by the political fight for control of Congress. This somber season of remembrance has been soiled by gaudy politicking and campaigning for midterm elections, which some political pundits regard as a national referendum on the Bush administration’s handling of the war in Iraq and national security generally. Perhaps, though skyrocketing gas prices, the job market, health-care costs, illegal immigration and even government ethics are apt to animate voters as well.
It means the GOP-led Congress, buoyed by President Bush and his bully pulpit, will emphasize homeland security-related legislation and bills intended to energize the conservative base virtually to the exclusion of all else. It does not mean Congress will necessarily agree to modernize the nation’s antiquated emergency warning system or approve measures to better protect citizens and aid first responders. It is all about the rhetorical sound and fury that will be generated by Republicans and Democrats, the latter anxious to return from the political wilderness.
Action is another story, as evidenced by political delay and cowardice in pushing hard for widespread deployment of enhanced location-based wireless 911 and interoperability for a public-safety sector still lacking sufficient spectrum to support high-speed broadband applications.
Appropriations bills, like ones underwriting the Federal Communications Commission and its supervision of the ongoing advanced wireless services auction, will be dispensed of with little thought through stop-gap funding and/or an omnibus spending bill. Leave the huge budget and trade deficits for another day.
What can the wireless industry expect? Very little, if anything.
As noted, time and attention likely will run out for the telecom reform bill and its potential to establish a national regulatory framework for wireless carriers. Likewise for legislation to crackdown on data brokers and their pre-texting ploys to extract cell-phone call records. What happened to all the outrage over privacy? Looks like it is being directed, at least in California, toward Hewlett-Packard.
