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from: Technology Daily

Telecom Reform, Merger Are On Rep. Dingell's Radar

By David Hatch

(Wednesday, November 8) House Democrats will pursue a fresh telecommunications overhaul next year, incoming Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell said. The panel also will ask the FCC to delay consideration of the AT&T, BellSouth merger until 2007 so it can oversee deliberations on the transaction.

"Clearly we've got to do something" about the pending telecom bills in Congress, the 80-year-old Michigan Democrat told reporters during a Wednesday conference call. "I think we're going to try and do that again in a responsible way," he added of efforts to enact legislation.

Dingell, who also headed the panel from 1980 until Democrats lost control of the House in 1994, said there are "major problems" with the 1996 Telecommunications Act. That law is considered outdated for today's Internet- and wireless-driven world.

But Dingell opposed a deregulatory measure authored by Republicans and passed by the House earlier this year.

Dingell said the committee further plans to examine television "indecency" and reform of the universal service fund, which subsidizes telecom costs in rural and low-income areas. The panel also will explore Internet regulations opposed by telecom and cable giants.

While Verizon Communications and other companies have said they will not seek telecom legislation next year, Dingell noted that he has been "very, very helpful" to telephone companies and would ensure that their needs -- and the public's -- are served.

He said it is unclear whether video-franchising relief, which the Bells support but he opposes, would be part of his agenda.

Furthermore, the committee will take a "hard look" at how the FCC apportions spectrum for emergency responders. Dingell wants to ensure that states and localities have the equipment, spectrum and money to improve communications across jurisdictions.

Regarding the AT&T- BellSouth transaction, valued at about $80 billion, Dingell said the transaction will face close scrutiny.

"We will have to look to see whether the Department of Justice is doing its responsibility," he said. The department approved the merger with no conditions on the new company.

The Energy and Commerce panel also plans to examine whether the FCC is serving the public interest with its proposed merger restrictions, he said. The FCC has delayed three votes on the AT&T-BellSouth deal because regulators have been unable to reach agreement.

Asked whether the FCC should delay its vote until next year, Dingell said, "I think it would be in their interest."

Regarding the agency's court-ordered review of media-ownership rules, Dingell did not say whether he would intervene.

But he noted with disdain that the Energy and Commerce panel under Republicans "has been very responsive to industry desires to reduce or eliminate controls on ownership."

He said Democrats would seek to maintain "diversity and localism" and try to determine whether further relaxation of the rules is justified. Locally originated news, he complained, is not being provided in some markets.

Dingell said he does not know whether his fellow Democrat, Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, plans to assume the chairmanship of the panel's Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee.

"Mr. Markey is a very valuable member of the committee. He is a close friend," Dingell said. Markey chaired the subpanel prior to the Democrats' loss of the House in 1994, and has since served as its ranking minority member.