Manufacturers Say Quick Action on Net Neutrality Not Needed
Legislation is the best way to dispel uncertainty regarding net neutrality policy, but Congress doesn’t need to act right away, representatives of business associations said on a teleconference Thursday. Congress is unlikely to tackle the issue this year, they said. Policymakers should allow industry talks to continue meanwhile, they said.
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"This is an important issue … but it’s not at a crisis level right now,” said Marc-Anthony Signorino, technology policy director for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). “There aren’t any harms out there right now that aren’t being addressed already.” Jason Goldman, telecom counsel for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, agreed, predicting that Congress will punt the issue to next year. Neither the FCC nor Congress should make “any rash decisions,” said Danielle Coffey, vice president of the Telecommunications Industry Association.
Policymakers should let industry talk it out, and meanwhile focus on spurring broadband deployment across the country, Signorino said. The FCC’s four Internet principles will be enough while talks continue, said Goldman. The Chamber, TIA and NAM don’t specifically endorse the FCC’s proposed nondiscrimination principle, but they do support a ban on anticompetitive behavior, the officials said.
None of the groups support the FCC’s proposal to reclassify broadband transport under Title II of the Communications Act, the officials said. Added regulation could hinder job creation and economic growth, said Goldman. When Title II classification was previously in effect, it “slaughtered our industry,” said Coffey. TIA also has mixed feelings about Google and Verizon’s proposal to exempt wireless, because it believes policy should be technology-neutral, she said. Government should recognize differences among technologies, including spectrum constraints in wireless, but it should refrain from choosing market “winners and losers,” she said.
TIA will fly in 15 CEOs this month to meet with lawmakers and FCC commissioners, Coffey said. They plan to make their case against Title II reclassification and support a legislative approach, she said. The executives will come mostly from companies represented on the TIA’s board, including Tellabs and the U.S. operation of Alcatel-Lucent. They plan to meet Thursday and Friday with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., Subcommittee Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, Commissioner Robert McDowell, and Philip Weiser, deputy chief of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, Coffey said.