Senate Weighs Broadband Bills

WASHINGTON--As Congress debates how to promote high-speed Internet access, two Senate bills have been introduced to enhance broadband deployment, one through deregulation and the other through federal programs for underserved areas.

Senator John Breaux (D-LA) and Senator Don Nickles (R-OK) proposed legislation this week that would impose the same regulations on all broadband platforms, whether DSL, cable modem, or wireless. Currently under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, only DSL is regulated because the telephone companies must keep their lines open to competition.

Under the Breaux-Nickles bill, the four "Baby Bell" phone companies would no longer have to share their DSL infrastructure with smaller competitors. The bill's authors say it would "create parity" among broadband providers.

The legislation is reminiscent of the hotly contested Tauzin-Dingell bill, which the House passed in February. Tauzin-Dingell would completely deregulate the Baby Bells. Breaux-Nickles addresses only DSL deregulation and leaves the rest of the Bell infrastructure regulated.

Other Approaches

Opponents of the legislation argue that while Breaux-Nickles purports to create parity of competition, it actually encourages monopolistic behavior. In effect, it could support the same Bell monopoly as Tauzin-Dingell, they say.

"Breaux's bill would give the Bell companies a monopoly over broadband which would undermine competition, eliminate any meaningful role for the states, and threaten the universal service program--all at the expense of the consumer," says H. Russell Frisby, Jr., president of the Competitive Telecommunications Association.

Senator Ernest "Fritz" Hollings (D-SC) urged Senate colleagues to oppose Breaux-Nickles. He said members should not be misled by the "Bell claims for parity."

"This legislation is nothing more than a Trojan horse to deregulate the Bells and extend their monopoly," Hollings says. As monopolies until 1996, the Bells sat on such broadband technologies as ISDN and xDSL, Hollings says. That, he argues, quashes Breaux-Nickles's argument that universal and affordable deployment of broadband depends on the Bells' willingness to invest in their infrastructure. They didn't before, and they won't now, Hollings says.

Rural Service Boost

Hollings, a longtime champion of broadband deployment, introduced his own bill Thursday. Called the Broadband and Telecommunications Act of 2002, Hollings says it would get broadband out to "rural and underserved areas of the market" through $4.5 billion in loans and grants. He has scheduled a hearing on broadband deployment in the Senate Commerce Committee on May 22.

Hollings says his vision for the future of broadband includes physicians instantaneously sharing information to provide better patient care, students obtaining current research, and consumers getting access to music and movies. Before that can happen, the remaining 15 percent of residential Internet users without broadband access must be reached, he says.

The legislation Hollings proposes would give underserved areas low-interest loans to upgrade facilities. It would also provide grants to digitize library and museum collections and technical research grants to universities.

Hollings argues that once broadband is made widely available, increased demand will boost the market, enabling 1.5-megabit broadband capabilities to expand to 50- or 100-megabit speeds and finally allowing broadband to reach its full potential.