Phone firms' TV market bid may skip Congress

PHONE FIRMS' TV MARKET BID MAY SKIP CONGRESS
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera jim.puzzanghera@latimes.com]
Big phone companies trying to dial in an overhaul of telecommunications laws will have to hang up and try the call again next year. The Democratic takeover of Congress makes it increasingly unlikely that AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. will be able to push through stalled legislation to make it easier for them to sell pay television. Instead, they probably will focus their efforts on state legislatures as they try to deliver more services to compete against cable companies. Lobbyists have all but given up on the telecommunications legislation, which also includes new anti-piracy measures for digital TV and radio signals, a three-year ban on new cellphone taxes and a permanent moratorium on Internet access taxes. Even the bill's most ardent backer, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has little hope. "I really don't see much chance to get a bill like that out," he said. "It's got firm objections." The bill, which would have eliminated most state and local regulation of pay television, has been stalled for months because of a dispute over rules to assure that data continue to flow freely across phone and cable company lines. Democrats support those rules, known as "network neutrality," which would apply to high-speed Internet access delivered by the same lines. But most Republicans oppose them and kept them out of the legislation. With Democrats set to take control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in January, they have no desire to allow the outgoing Republican majority to pass major legislation while still in charge. The legislation would have to be drafted from scratch next year. And Democrats, who will control all congressional committee chairmanships, may not make telecommunications overhaul as high a priority as the Republicans had.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-telecom28nov28,1,4646...
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