Hearing comments on Sen. John Ensign’s telecom reform bill is like dejà vu all over again, to borrow a phrase from John Fogerty. Ensign’s bill aims to largely deregulate the telecom and video industries. On first glance it looks good for traditional telecom players and not so good for traditional cable TV franchises.
Press releases from the telecom and tech industries that commented on the bill are littered with words like commend and applaud. Deregulation is in, and Ensign’s effort, whether it gets passed or not, at least addresses the need to change today’s rules.
The Progress & Freedom Foundation said the Ensign bill is a “historic communications reform landmark.”
Interesting. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was also regarded as historic legislation. Indeed, the first sentence in RCR Wireless News’ story on the act’s passage was this: “Congress passed landmark telecommunications reform legislation late last week, paving the way for the wireless lane of the information superhighway and setting the stage for a fierce debate on a national spectrum policy bill later this year.”
Sound familiar?
The ’96 telecom effort, which passed by a whopping 414-16 in the House and 91-5 in the Senate, didn’t turn out as Congress expected. That act was supposed to allow cable, Bell companies and long-distance carriers to get into each other’s markets-bringing competition to the marketplace. Ensign’s bill aims to do the same thing. The 1996 law instead spurred consolidation within industries.
The ’96 legislation also was supposed to bring jobs. Sen. Larry Pressler, who helped guide the effort, labeled it “the largest jobs bill to come before the Senate in a very long time.” As many wireless industry veterans know, consolidation brings layoffs.
The Consumer Federation of America, however, feared the 1996 telecom act would bring less competition and higher prices. The group also fears Ensign’s bill will hurt consumers.
My point: No one got it right last time, and it’s doubtful any new reform measures will play out as we expect either.
Market forces like AT&T Wireless Services Inc.’s Digital One Rate plan did more to upend the long-distance business than any deregulation effort that allowed Bell companies to sell long-distance service. If history repeats itself, it will be fun to watch what technology, service or marketing ploy is on deck today that will wreak havoc on future reform plans.
