Subject: [NEXTEL-1] CTIA Wireless 2003: Tauzin, Powell Agree But Differ

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 00:14:10 -0500

CTIA Wireless 2003: Tauzin, Powell Agree But Differ

NEW ORLEANS -- House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy
Tauzin (R-La.) on Monday advised the Federal Communications
Commission to accelerate the deregulation of the U.S.
telecommunications industry. FCC Chairman Michael Powell agreed
with Tauzin, but says it won't be easy.

As opening-session keynote speakers at the Cellular
Telecommunications & Internet Association's Wireless 2003
conference, both Tauzin and Powell made clear their opposition to
increasing regulation of the wireless industry by local and state
governments as well as by federal agencies. They also made clear
their support for eliminating as much regulation of the overall
telecom industry as possible. But while Tauzin expects the FCC to
lead the way, Powell cautioned that deregulation efforts face long
odds because of entrenched support for existing levels of
regulation.

"It certainly ought to be a message to the [FCC] that stepping
back into more complex and uncertain areas of government
regulation...is a mistake," Tauzin said, referring to the commission's
recent decision that could increase states' regulation of incumbent
local-exchange carriers. "We have to approach it with a mind that
is not locked into the old structure of the switched network and
the notion that telephony is something that must be regulated," he
added.

Powell, who voted against approving the recent decision on
regulating ILECs, reiterated his well recognized policy of "let[ting]
the market take care of" determining what services and what
companies succeed. However, in his third year as FCC chair, Powell
knows that leading the U.S. government in easing its telecom
industry regulatory policies is a frustrating undertaking. "You will
have to fight a little bit to do it," he said.

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