Impact Of Senate Telecom Bill On States, Consumers Debated

IMPACT OF SENATE TELECOM BILL ON STATES, CONSUMERS DEBATED
[SOURCE: Technology Daily 7/14, AUTHOR: Michael Davis]
Telecom experts debated this week whether consumer protections and other issues often tackled by states would be adequately preserved under a telecom overhaul bill being pushed by Senate Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). K. Dane Snowden, a vice president of the wireless group CTIA, answered the question in the affirmative: The wireless industry largely supports the bill and recently launched a major ad campaign pushing for its passage. But Dan Phythyon, public policy director at the Alliance for Public Technology, said consumer protection and states' rights issues emerged from debate surrounding the bill "reasonably late," and expressed concern about whether consumers really would benefit. The measure authored by Sen Stevens -- which his committee approved in late June -- would require that the FCC examine consumer complaints and other wireless issues, cutting out state involvement in such matters. But Snowden said CTIA "agrees there is a need to make sure customers are taken care of." He pointed to a 1993 law balancing the nation's budget, which effectively spurred current growth in the wireless industry by empowering the FCC to auction space on the radio spectrum. "It has worked, there's no doubt about that," he declared. However, Brian Adkins, executive director of the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners, said state pre-emption "is an issue that will grow," while contending adding that there is no need to change regulations in a $118 billion industry. "An industry can't grow this fast, sell contracts and reply to complaints with dogma about industry competition," he declared.
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