BELLS SHOULD DROP LD RELIEF FROM TAUZIN-DINGELL

For Bell companies that celebrated the convincing victory of the Tauzin-Dingell bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, the real work now begins in the Senate.

There, the bill faces lawmakers who are decidedly more suspicious of the Bells, as many of them helped write the 1996 Telecom Act that Tauzin-Dingell would amend. Leading the opposition is Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., who recently described Tauzin-Dingell as “blasphemy.” Hollings also is chairman of the committee that can prevent the bill from ever reaching the Senate floor, which many experts believe he’ll gladly do.

For Tauzin-Dingell to have a chance of becoming law, the long-distance data relief portion has to go. This proposal is particularly distasteful to those who helped author the Telecom Act. Striking this from the legislation should matter little to the RBOCs, as they all claim to be securing their long-distance approvals by the end of the year. Meanwhile, it would have the added benefit of forcing opponents’ ad campaigns to focus on competitive access to remote terminals--a technical concept that doesn’t play well in 30-second sound bites--as the Bell companies promise broadband to everyone.

In this election year, few voters will oppose the Bell companies’ argument that they deserve to make a return on broadband investments without having to share with competitors. Combined with a willingness to adhere to a deployment schedule and several well-placed campaign contributions, focusing Tauzin-Dingell on this aspect may prevent it from dying in a Senate committee.