Four Ways to Modernize the 1996 Telecom Act

[Commentary] My “birthday wish” for the act is that Congress adopt much-needed legislation recognizing the digital and mobile era into which telecommunications has emerged. The 1996 Telecommunications Act was about analog services and, to a large extent, “plain old telephone services.” The following provisions will help to modernize the ’96 Act for the digital era:

1. Congress should pass legislation that declares broadband is an information service not subject to common-carrier regulation.
2. Congress should recognize in legislation the advanced nature of the Internet- protocol transition and set a date, perhaps 2020, for the sunset of the old legacy copper network.
3. Another legislative provision should create incentives for government agencies to surrender telecommunications spectrum for auction to commercial wireless carriers. Simply stated, government agencies should be offered a share of the auction proceeds in exchange for a surrender of the spectrum they hold.
4. Congress should also adopt a Bill of Rights for privacy for Internet users with jurisdiction in the Federal Trade Commission over all telecommunications privacy issues. Giving Internet users greater assurance that their privacy is protected should result in a greater willingness to use the Internet for commercial purposes.

[Rick Boucher is honorary co-chairman of the Internet Innovation Alliance]