Changes in Broadband Laws Stall

Leonadis McKinney, Medill News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Broadband Internet access pricing or availability won't change soon, no matter how eager lawmakers are to tackle the topic. They have to wait for directions from the Federal Communications Commission--a frustrating delay, say lawmakers and industry players.

The issue is proving divisive on Capitol Hill. Some representatives favor deregulation, and others worry that removing remaining regulations will foster monopolies and ultimately raise rates. But members of the House agree they can't resolve anything without FCC direction.

Waiting on FCC

Specifically, lawmakers want the FCC to issue a pending Triennial Review Order that will dictate whether broadband is classified as an information service or a telecommunications service, which in turn determines how it can be regulated.

Congress has been waiting on the order since February, when the FCC decided against broad general deregulation. Subcommittee members took the opportunity to express their frustration on Monday at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. It was good timing; one of the panel witnesses, Robert Pepper, is a policy developer for the FCC.

"I didn't realize that when they named it the 'Triennial Review' that we should have understood that to mean that it would take three years to release the order," quipped Representative Billy Tauzin (R-Louisiana), who chairs the full committee.

The crux of the problem is that the two biggest categories of broadband provider have different status under the law. Cable modem and DSL service providers are jockeying to provide the nation's Internet surfers with broadband access. Since cable operators are classified as information service providers and not as telecommunication services, they don't have to let the public or competitors use their pipelines. However, common telecommunication carriers--notably telephone companies that also sell DSL services--must share access.

Alternatives Weighed

Panelists and lawmakers agreed there are two ways to give cable and DSL services an even playing field: Place broadband cable services under the same regulations currently imposed on DSL providers; or deregulate DSL companies and let them compete freely in the marketplace.

Each solution presents its own problems. Regulating cable service providers, opponents say, would inhibit industry growth, competition, and capital investment. On the other hand, DSL providers entering a totally deregulated market could get crushed by their cable modem competitors, who control the vast majority of the market share as well as the infrastructure.

But neither action can be explored until Congress knows how the FCC will rule--and lawmakers grow more frustrated by the day.

"It seems that the Commission is moving at dial-up speeds," Representative Fred Upton (R-Michigan), the subcommittee chair, said in his opening statement. "The FCC needs to act now."

In response to a direct query from an obviously agitated Upton, the FCC's Pepper said he hopes the agency can get the Triennial Review order released by Labor Day.

"We've got people working on it right now," Pepper said.