Tauke: Big Telecom Bill Unlikely in 2007-08
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 1/9/2007 12:37:00 PM
Las Vegas -- Verizon Communications' top Washington lobbyist said Tuesday that Congress was too busy with other issues, including the Iraq war, to focus on passing major telecommunication legislation in the next two years.
"I frankly think it is unlikely that there will be a telecom act. There may be some narrower measures that move through, but I don't see the dynamics in place for a comprehensive telecom bill," Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications Tom Tauke said on a panel at the International Consumer Electronics Show here.
Congress, now under Democratic control, has other priorities besides telecommunications, he said, adding, "I think Iraq has taken a lot of air out of the room."
Verizon, he said, was in a better position today than one year ago, when it was pursuing a telecommunications bill, because several states had enacted statewide cable franchising and the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules giving local cable regulators just 90 days to act on Verizon's cable-entry applications.
"There is no compelling issue, no compelling need for a communications reform," he added.
Amazon.com VP of global public policy Paul Misener disagreed, predicting that a bill would pass with Internet-nondiscrimination provisions as the centerpiece of the legislation.
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