In this election season, the wireless industry stands as an Independent. Indeed, CTIA has been run successfully over recent years by Steve Largent, a Republican, and Tom Wheeler, a staunch Democrat.
Wireless crosses party lines. As such, regardless of whether Democrats regain control of Congress, the wireless industry will likely lose a few steps in its various causes by needing to educate new legislators about key issues affecting the industry, whether it’s federal pre-emption, universal service funding or access to 700 MHz spectrum.
- Federal pre-emption is a tricky issue for the industry to navigate. Republicans usually favor local and state government rather than federal mandates; they want a smaller federal government. Federal pre-emption would take away some local municipalities’ and state governments’ rights so Republicans may be leery of voting in favor of it. Traditional Democrats, meanwhile, may oppose federal pre-emption because they are concerned that wireless carriers are not doing enough to protect subscribers from the small print that contains tough language on early-termination fees and the like.
And yet, logic demands that federal pre-emption is in the best interests of consumers, government and, yes, wireless carriers. The majority of cell-phone plans are nationwide; the rules governing how carriers honor those plans should also be nationwide. Years ago, when carriers offered local calling plans, it may have made sense to have carriers conform those plans to the rules of a city or region. Today, it’s an outdated thought. The idea that one state can impose its will on subscribers in other states doesn’t make sense.
- Politicians on both sides of the aisle agree universal service funding is a mess. It’s a significant problem that pits rural wireline carriers against their wireless counterparts. No one has yet hit upon an equitable solution for a problem that has been debated for a decade. As such, don’t expect a new Congress to suddenly resolve USF.
- And finally, proposals like Cyren Call Communications Inc.’s plan to take away promised commercial spectrum and use it to build a public-safety network could receive much attention, depending on Tuesday’s election. But here’s the kicker: the Cyren Call plan would take an act of Congress. This last Congress was unable to pass a law making pretexting illegal-even though legislators blew a lot of hot air about pretexting-so I bet commercial wireless carriers won’t have to fight too hard to keep 700 MHz spectrum in commercial hands.
