Closed-door telecom overhaul to begin Friday; invitees remain uncertain

Subsequent meetings will be scheduled to examine broadband
deployment and spectrum policy and will include a different set of stakeholders.

The chairmen of the authorizing committees announced last
month that they want to begin rewriting the Communications Act of 1934, which
was last overhauled as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 after a lobbying
battle that dragged on for years.

But the chairmen enter the negotiations already clashing with Republicans over whether legislation is needed. House Energy and Commerce ranking member Rep. Joe Barton
(R-Texas) and House Communications Subcommittee ranking member Rep.
Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) wrote the Democrats last week saying “we do not
see any urgency to legislate.”

The move to update communications law follows an April appeals court
decision that thrust into uncertainty the bounds of the FCC’s legal authority
to regulate broadband issues, including whether it has the muscle to enforce net neutrality rules.
 

The relevant chairmen and ranking members diverge on the
bounds of FCC power in the aftermath of the decision. They also disagree on whether the agency should move to
clarify its
authority through a wholly-FCC-based proceeding, as it began to do last
week. 

The fundamental divide between the parties is the extent to which Internet
service providers should be regulated, with Democrats backing net neutrality rules to prevent broadband providers from
toying with the Internet content and applications that run over their
networks. Republicans say that’s overregulation and would stifle investment in
broadband networks.

The first talk will include staffers to members including Senate Commerce Chairman John Rockefeller (D-W.V.)
and ranking member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.); Senate Communications Subcommittee
Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and ranking member Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.); House
Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Barton; and House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher
(D-Va.) and Stearns.

The talks do not appear to be open to press. A list of participants and statements submitted by attendees will be
made available to the public, the lawmakers indicated.