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Fresno, Calif., panel explore federal telecommunication laws(Fresno Bee (CA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Jan. 26--The last time federal telecommunication laws were overhauled, the Internet was in its infancy, DirectTV was only a couple years old and Google was nothing more than the sound a baby might make. As lawmakers consider a rewrite of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, they face a radically changed environment. Cable companies are getting into the phone business, phone companies are getting into the video business and just about everyone is selling Internet services. So as Congress looks to rewrite the rules, a host of business interests are lining up to make sure their voices are heard. The lobbying came to Fresno on Wednesday as Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, and the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce hosted a panel discussion on possible reform. "The industry is changing not by the day but by the hour," Radanovich told the breakfast crowd of about 40 at Pardini's. Radanovich sits on the House telecommunications and Internet subcommittee. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is organizing telecommunication panel discussions across the country, targeting the districts of lawmakers who sit on committees likely to take up reform proposals. The Fresno discussion was wide-ranging and spirited, bringing together representatives from industries whose views often don't mesh. A cable industry executive, for instance, disagreed with a phone company executive over the necessity of municipal franchises for cable service. Mark Weideman, a regional vice president for external affairs for AT&T, formerly SBC Communications, said that franchise negotiations create barriers to entry, limiting competition. AT&T plans this year to roll out video services in California through a partnership with Dish Network, Weideman said in an interview. But instead of reselling satellite services, the company would one day like to sell video using fiber networks, he said. Weideman said it takes too much time to negotiate with hundreds of cities over franchise rights. Rules, he said, could be set up covering areas broader than city or county limits. Such a proposal could still guarantee cable revenues to municipalities, he said. Jerry Yanowitz, vice president of federal affairs for the California Cable & Telecommunications Association, disagreed. "Every city has different needs," he said, adding that "local franchising is not a burden." Comcast, the dominant local cable TV provider, is in the midst of renegotiating franchise agreements with Fresno County and the cities of Clovis and Fresno. In general, most panelists pushed for more deregulation. But panel member Tony DiStefano, CEO of Arrival Communications, cautioned against going too far. Bakersfield-based Arrival is a "competitive local exchange carrier," or a CLEC, selling business phone and Internet service in the central San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast. CLECs maintain their own networks but lease lines from traditional carriers -- former Bell companies such as the former SBC -- to reach the "last mile" to a business or residence. Traditional carriers must sell at a discount basic last-mile line access to CLECs, such as Arrival, DiStefano said. DiStefano worries that Congress, responding to the lobbying muscle of the former Bells, might take away that guarantee. "My fear," he said in an interview, "is that in a rewrite of the act, companies like Arrival no longer have the legal right to last-mile access." |