Telecom Policymaking a Piecemeal Effort, House Commerce Chairman Walden Predicts

Congressional action to update the Telecommunications Act will be incremental, according to House Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR). "We're looking at it piece by piece," Walden said at the 2018 State of the Net conference on Jan 29. He added that Congress also "needs to look at the FCC operation" overall, acknowledging that "we live in a different era" than when the 1996 Telecom law was enacted. Walden said he expects a "program-by-program" evaluation, but did not suggest any timetable or urgency for the review.

Chairman Walden's outlook on piecemeal telecom reform legislation echoes the view of Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-SD). At 2017's conference, Sen Thune also avoided any expectation that an omnibus revision of the Telecommunications Act is likely.