Should telecom rules be upgraded for wireless?

Washington has gone wireless, but its rules haven’t. While the communications field rapidly moves toward a broadband infrastructure, Washington regulators are stuck with antiquated statutes from the days of corded telephones.

Pressure is mounting for Congress to define the right role for government in an Internet-based universe — especially with pending court cases that question the Federal Communications Commission’s authority in this space — but opinions differ about how to tackle the issue. There is an 800-pound gorilla to contend with: the Telecom Act of 1996. Some wireless carriers argue that public officials must scrap the act, which was the first major reform to communications law since 1934, and start from scratch to craft new rules that make sense given the mobile broadband boom. To others, that line of reasoning is simply a way for the wireless industry to escape communication regulations that should apply regardless of technological protocol.