WASHINGTON-No matter who is the next president, Congress is going to look at reforming the Telecommunications Act of 1996, said panelists Tuesday morning at a breakfast panel.
“I think a telecom re-write will happen. It doesn’t matter whether Ralph Nader is president, telecom reform is happening. It is happening on Capitol Hill, ” said Bruce Mehlman, former assistant Commerce secretary for technology policy.
Mehlman was one of four panelists at the “What’s at Stake for Technology and Telecommunications in the 2004 Election?” seminar sponsored by Dittus Communications and CNBC.
Another panelist, Blair Levin, managing director and telecom and media analyst for Legg Mason, said he believes Congress will look at telecom reform, but it might not succeed in getting a bill passed because Bell companies already received most of the deregulatory help they wanted from the Federal Communications Commission.
“There will be an effort to re-write the bill, whether that effort will be successful, is in doubt,” said Levin, noting that for the regional Bell operating companies, “a lot of the steam is out.”
“This administration has been AWOL,” said Robert Atkinson, vice president and director of the Technology & New Economy Project at the Progressive Policy Institute.
“Which President Kerry would show up? He has been on both sides of most issues,” retorted Mehlman.
Mehlman further complained that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Democratic nominee, has not been helpful in getting legislation passed that would reserve third-generation spectrum auction proceeds to relocate military assets.
Levin, a Democrat who was FCC chief of staff during the Clinton administration, said telecom reform is not a partisan issue, but that if President George W. Bush wins re-election and the House and Senate remain in Republican hands, that will influence which telecom reform bill is debated.
“If you have one party control, you get a certain kind of a bill. If you have a two-party town, you get more compromise,” said Levin.
