Another good item from National Journal’s Drew Clark: bi-partisan support for draft telecom reform legislation has unraveled in the House, mostly due (from the sound of it) to the controversial provisions that imposed uniform pricing on cable operators in areas where phone companies offer video services. Although the details are murky in Clark’s piece, it seems that House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) sought help from ranking member John Dingell (D-MI) over an issue, most likely the uniform pricing requirement, and Dingell refused to depart from the earlier agreement.
Now, it seems, there will be dueling minority and majority bills, making the timely passage of Telecom Act rewrite legislation more remote. Uniform pricing isn’t the only area of disagreement — cable operators and phone companies oppose the bill’s net neutrality provisions, while U.S. mayors are upset over the bill’s failure to impose build-out requirements on phone companies.
Cynthia Brumfield at 1:24 PM|Comments(0)
Blogs We Read
