WASHINGTON-The telecommunications-reform bill, which includes the all-important wireless pre-emption provision, will not be debated on the Senate floor this week so its only hope for passage is if it is part of the debate when the Senate returns for a lame-duck session in November, said Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Stevens’s main opponent is Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) who has said he will filibuster the bill until network neutrality is included. Under Senate procedure, a senator can filibuster-talk until an item is withdrawn.
Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, Stevens said the bill will not be broken up or tacked onto appropriations bills.
Notwithstanding that prospects for passage of a telecom-reform bill seem to fade with each passing day; various groups continued lobbying the legislation.
As expected, 41 state attorneys general asked Congress to strip provisions that would pre-empt state regulation of wireless, pointing to mounting complaints and lack of enforcement muscle at the Federal Communications Commission.
The state AGs said telecom act pre-emption could hinder efforts-such as the 2004 settlement agreements among 32 state attorneys general and three national wireless carriers and California’s $12 million fine against Cingular Wireless L.L.C.-to safeguard consumers and punish abuses.
“Unfortunately, problematic industry practices continue,” wrote the National Association of Attorneys General in a letter to Congress. “Those include selling service to consumers who live in areas where the service is unavailable, advertising rates that do not include all mandatory charges consumers must pay, adding charges for products or services without notice or consumer approval, changing the terms of service without adequate notice or consumer approval, and tying consumers to long-term contracts with substantial cancellation charges on top of these abuses. These long-term contracts and termination fees effectively prevent consumers from shopping for better service and insulate industry players from market corrections for their bad practices. Given the speed of innovation in this industry, the need for quick action to prevent industry abuses is great.”
The state AGs said the FCC cannot be counted on to be the sole agency in charge of cell-phone industry conduct, adding that the industry’s voluntary code of conduct has failed to protect consumers in part because the code is unenforceable.
The wireless industry argues that a patchwork of state wireless regulations hurts consumers in a competitive market. Wireless industry trade association CTIA has noted wireless complaints to the FCC have declined in past months.
TV white spaces
One provision of the bill would require the FCC to complete its work to allow unlicensed use of the TV white spaces.
The New America Foundation, a think tank that has led the charge to make the TV white spaces available for unlicensed uses, estimates that between 40 percent and 80 percent of the TV spectrum would not be used once the digital TV transition is completed. Proponents of allocating the TV white space for unlicensed use have said it would help meet President Bush’s goal of universal, affordable broadband. Proponents believe that smart radios would ensure the TV white spaces could be used without causing interference to adjacent TV channels; the TV industry disagrees.
Recently the FCC released a schedule to test unlicensed uses in the TV bands with the goal of having equipment available for sale at the time of the completion of the DTV transition in February 2009.
Lisa Sutherland, staff director for the Senate Commerce Committee, welcomed the FCC’s action, but Michael Calabrese, of the Wireless Futures Program at the New America Foundation, said the legislation was still necessary.
“We really think this bill is critical so the FCC realizes it has a mandate,” said Calabrese.
