Tauzin: Section 271 is a mess

WASHINGTON--Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., said today his broadband deregulation bill, co-sponsored by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., is not about pleasing the Bell companies but completing work begun by the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Getting in the way of that work is the FCC, , Tauzin said.

Speaking at an investor conference sponsored by the Precursor Group, Tauzin he believes there is nothing wrong with the Act, but Congress made a mistake by giving regulators the duty of deregulation.

“Their purpose for being is to regulate, and we left to them the job of taking away their jobs,” Tauzin said. “What a stupid move.”

Tauzin criticized the FCC for slowing the Section 271 process for establishing the existence of competition in the local loop, specifically accusing the commission of changing the rules as it goes along by continually adding conditions the Bell companies have to meet.

“The Section 271 process has become a mess,” he said. “Tauzin-Dingell is about saying to the FCC, ‘If you want to drag 271 into the next century, go ahead, but keep your grubby hands off broadband.’”

Tauzin predicted the legislation will pass the House but acknowledged it faces stiff opposition in the Senate, particularly from Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-S.C., who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee, which is where the bill will likely land.

“Mr. Hollings is my friend, but he has a different view,” Tauzin said. “We’re talking.”

Tauzin quoted statistics from the Telecommunications Industry Association that indicate 1.5 million new jobs would be created in the aftermath of the passage of Tauzin-Dingell.

“If that happens, this country will take off like a rocket,” he said. “We won’t need a stimulus package.”