WASHINGTON-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is expected to release a study Wednesday morning showing that 212,000 new jobs and $127 billion would be added to the gross domestic product over the next five years with effective telecommunications reform.
“Telecommunications is the central nervous system of our economy. The current telecom law is hopelessly flawed, stifles investment and prevents the creation of American jobs,” said Chamber President Thomas Donahue.
The Chamber is expected to release the study by Tom Hazlett of the Manhattan Institute, Coleman Bazelon of the Analysis Group, John Rutledge of Rutledge Capital Research and Deborah Allen Hewitt of the College of William and Mary, at a telecom summit.
The study shows that the telecommunications industry lost 380,500 jobs between March 2001 and May 2004, and market capitalization dropped 67 percent from $1.135 trillion to $375 billion.
Telecommunications reform is a hot topic these days. On Tuesday, Blair Levin, managing director and telecom and media analyst for Legg Mason, said that if Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Democratic nominee, wins in November, he should look to the telecommunications industry to create jobs.
Levin 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.
The main thrust of the seminar was no matter who is the next president, Congress is going to look at reforming the Telecommunications Act of 1996. With the release of this study, the Chamber is calling for that reform to take the form of less regulation.
“This study has identified areas where the government needs to step aside so that markets and technology can step in. While this study does not hold all the answers, it raises a number of questions the United States cannot afford to ignore if our telecom industry is to regain its vitality,” said Donahue.
