In this Clintonian Age of Relativity, there is always-for everyone here-a way out: denial. Having an extramarital affair with a girl your twenty-something daughter’s age. Deny it. Soliciting campaign contributions from a Buddhist temple or from the White House. Deny it. Call it something else, community outreach perhaps. And make it perfectly clear that whatever it is, there’s no controlling legal authority governing it.
Denial is an art form here. It permeates everything, even telecom policymaking.
So what that SBC Communications bought Pacific Telesis Group. And so what that SBC, having been told a merger with AT&T was unthinkable, partnered instead with Ameritech Corp.
And what of it that AT&T is joining forces with cable TV giant TCI. Big deal that Bell Atlantic and Nynex merged. So what that Bell Atlantic-Nynex wants to buy GTE. And what of it that there are massive layoffs.
Okay, so no one knows if there’ll be money to help poor and rural folks get basic telephone service anymore. At least there will be a computer in every school, library and hospital in time for Y2K.
I’m going to say this again: The ’96 telecom act works. It will create competition and thousands of new jobs. I never said it was perfect, not a single time.
Okay, so Pocket Communications Inc., General Wireless Inc. and NextWave Telecom Inc. are in bankruptcy. So what that the FCC doesn’t have first dibs on their licenses. And what of it that 80 percent of C-block PCS spectrum is in limbo. Alright, so some wireless licenses went for a buck a piece. Okay, so railroads, pipelines, utilities, public safety are without sufficient private wireless links.
I’m going to say this again: Auctions work. They helped balanced the budget. I never said auctions were perfect, not a single time.
So what that there are 64,000 pieces of unfinished business in the Wireless Telecom Bureau. And what of it that the mountain of pending license applications and unfinished rulemakings towers over the Washington Monument. So what that paging, SMR and mobile phone carriers are still heavily regulated by the feds even though Congress said they don’t have to be.
I’m going to say this again: FCC wireless policy works. It’s not the Wireless Telecom Bureau’s fault Congress keeps changing the law and butting in. I never said wireless policy was perfect, not a single time.
If anyone gets mad about this column, I didn’t write it.
