NTCA is concerned the House Commerce Committee will vote on VoIP ...
NTCA is concerned the House Commerce Committee will vote on VoIP legislation by the end of the session, raising the possibility of passage at the last minute as an amendment to an appropriations bill, an official told the news…
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media Mon. “The Commerce Committee is considering voting on some type of VoIP legislation this Congress,” NTCA Govt. Affairs Representative Brian O'Hara said. Chances of such language being tacked onto a appropriations measure are fairly high with most of the appropriations bills still pending, he said. O'Hara said NTCA considers VoIP legislation premature, especially since House Commerce Committee Chmn. Barton (R-Tex.) “has stated his intent to reopen the Telecom Act next year.” “We don’t think a narrowly focused single technology bill should be addressed, period -- not even next year,” he said. Too many other key issues need attention such as universal service and intercarrier compensation, O'Hara said. Two VoIP bills are vying for House passage -- HR- 4129 sponsored by Rep. Pickering (R-Miss.) and HR-4757 sponsored by Reps. Stearns (R-Fla.) and Boucher (D-Va.). Meanwhile, NTCA Govt. Affairs Vp Shirley Bloomfield said if there’s a rewrite, NTCA’s wish list would include: (1) Network compensation for rural carriers. (2) Universal service, including portability. (3) Access to spectrum by small, rural carriers. Bloomfield said NTCA is “still working with our membership” to determine what they would like in a rewrite but “smart regulation” is the theme: “People in the industry talk a lot about deregulation. We'd like to see smart regulation instead. Things that matter in a high cost market such as access and universal service happen under a regulatory scheme. Regulation is not the all-encompassing evil here.”