NARUC commissioners will vote at the group’s annual...
NARUC commissioners will vote at the group’s annual meeting this month on a resolution adopting a white paper on federalism and telecom. The paper and the corresponding resolution released Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1hNKrV8) update a 2005 resolution that recommended the states and…
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the FCC share jurisdiction over key aspects of communications services. The commissioners discussed the draft paper in a heated debate at NARUC’s summer meeting in Denver (CD July 25 p12). Much has changed since the 2005 resolution, with Internet Protocol-enabled services, texting and computer-based calling entering the market to compete with wireline and wireless services, said the paper. The new resolution says that modern, efficient, affordable and reliable communications services are critical to the “preservation of the public health, safety and welfare.” The resolution said states, the FCC and industry need to work collaboratively to ensure the quality and availability of communications at affordable prices even as carriers “continue to evolve and undergo technological transition.” Originally, the task force wrote “IP-related services,” but some of the commissioners did not think the “change from IP to TDM services will stay in place in some states,” Sherry Lichtenberg, National Regulatory Research Institute principal, told us. “Changes to the underlying structure of the network or technology used to carry information do not change the need for reliable, robust, affordable and ubiquitous communications services that are universally available and reasonably comparable regardless of location,” said the draft resolution. Any new federal legislation should recognize that the states are “well positioned to understand the availability of communications services in their own jurisdictions, to respond quickly to customer concerns, and to provide input on competitive issues and service problems,” said the resolution. The Federalism Task Force members worked well together to complete the paper and the resolution, said Lichtenberg. “We wanted to find talking points that could work with their legislatures, Congress and the FCC to move forward with policy,” she said. The commissioners will also discuss separate resolutions on slamming and privacy at their annual meeting.