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Public Power and Revision of the FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

Public Power and Revision of the FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT. Presentation by Joe Nipper, Senior Vice President for Government Relations American Public Power Association at the APPA COMMUNITY BROADBAND CONFERENCE San Francisco, CA October 11, 2004. Factors Prompting Congress to Act:.

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Public Power and Revision of the FEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT

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  1. Public Power and Revisionof theFEDERAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT Presentation by Joe Nipper, Senior Vice President for Government Relations American Public Power Association at the APPA COMMUNITY BROADBAND CONFERENCE San Francisco, CA October 11, 2004

  2. Factors Prompting Congress to Act: • Technological Innovation • Outmoded regulatory structure • Mired Litigation • Global competitiveness • Broadband digital divide

  3. Public Power Then and Now • Our interests are much more diverse now than in 1996 • Broadband is the new key to economic development • Several states have erected barriers to entry, others likely in wake of Supreme Court decision on “any entity” • Priority legislative issue for 2005 per APPA Board of Directors

  4. Legislative Action in the 2nd Session of the 108th Congress Hearings have been held on a variety of topics • Competition in the communication marketplace • Review of current policies • Cable competition • Escalating cable rates • Consumer choices for cable services (e.g. a la carte, theme-tiered offerings) • VOIP and VOIP regulation

  5. Legislative Action (Cont’d) Attempts to move VOIP legislation ahead of a comprehensive bill SENATE • S. 2281 (Sununu, R-NH); virtually deregulates VOIP services and prohibits state and local taxation • “Marked-up” on 7/22, but author withdraws support after bill “gutted” by amendments

  6. Legislative Action (Cont’d) Attempts to move VOIP legislation ahead of a comprehensive bill HOUSE • H.R. 4129 (Pickering, R-MS); similar to Sununu bill • H.R. 4757 (Stearns, R-FL; Boucher, D-VA); classifies VOIP as an “Advanced Internet Communication Service,” free of state regulation and subject to limited FCC regulation; does not address taxation

  7. Key FCC Proceedings • BPL Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to establish technical rules • IP enabled services NPRM • 800 MHz – Nextel’s rebanding proposal • Inquiry on video competition • Section 706 report released

  8. Legislative Outlook for the 109th Congress • Start with hearings to lay the groundwork • Likely to see numerous legislative proposals • Action will start at the subcommittee level (particularly in the House), but probably not until later in the year

  9. Legislative Outlook (cont’d) Election Results may have some impact, but not much; could impact FCC more than Congress • Key Players in Congress Senate Commerce Committee Ted Stevens (R-AK) Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Conrad Burns (R-MT) Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) John McCain (R-AZ) Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

  10. Legislative Outlook (cont’d) • Key Players in Congress House Energy and Commerce Committee Joe Barton (R-TX) John Dingell (D-MI) Fred Upton (R-MI) Ed Markey (D-MA) Rick Boucher (D-VA)

  11. What’s at stake for Public Power? • Local control -Federal preemption of states; barriers to entry -ROW management; pole attachments -Attacks based on “level playing field” • Classification of services -VOIP -Regulatory treatment (e.g. universal service, E911, taxation, etc.) • Maintaining diversity of technology options

  12. What’s at stake for Public Power? (cont’d) • Protection against anti-competitive behavior • Potential “transfer” to electricity regulation issues • The principle of public enterprise

  13. It Will Be a Fight • Prohibiting or limiting public power deployment of services is a high priority for many large incumbents • Public enterprise is not held in high regard by many in Congress • Our opponents are well-financed, politically entrenched, and willing to employ ruthless and deceptive tactics

  14. But We Can Win • If truly national deployment of broadband is the goal – public power is a big part of the solution • Local elected officials and local businesses cannot be ignored by Congress • We are building a record of success

  15. Preparations by APPA • Dedicated staff resources (Ron Lunt, Desmarie Mosco, others) • Member education and outreach • Congressional education and outreach • Development of political allies • Preparation of rebuttals to attack on public power • Opposition research • Enhancement of grassroots capabilities; Public Power is Good for Business campaign • Dedicated PAC resources • Other activities

  16. www.appanet.org

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