IP Democracy: Telecom Act Rewrite Bills Moving Ahead Despite Merger

Despite the bombshell merger of AT&T and BellSouth, and against the backdrop of some legislators’ concerns, Telecom Act rewrite legislation isn’t slowing down at all. Drew Clark has this item that says the House Commerce Committee plans to mark up its telecom reform legislation next week.

That bill is now devoted to one topic: establishing a national video franchise for phone companies. According to Clark, the House bill doesn’t require phone companies to build out entire communities, a blow for the cable industry which has been lobbying heavily to impose a number of franchise requirements on phone companies, particularly build-out requirements.

Drew also has this piece in the National Journal’s Tech Daily regarding Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens’ (R-AK) vow to move telecom legislation before Easter. Stevens doesn’t agree with his committee co-chair Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) about the need to slow down legislative initiatives as a result of the AT&T-BellSouth merger.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on March 9, 2006 8:21 AM to IP Democracy