[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 54 (Thursday, April 3, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     FCC TRIENNIAL REVIEW DECISION

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                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 3, 2003

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to express my 
concern over the Federal Communications Commission recent Triennial 
Review decision. The revival of the telecommunications industry is 
critically important to revival of the overall U.S. economy. The FCC 
proceeding was an opportunity to restore regulatory certainty in the 
telecommunications industry.
  The Triennial Review deals with rules for when competitors can share 
facilities of incumbent local phone companies. The courts had directed 
the FCC to review its regulations so that competitors could compete and 
so that incumbents would not be burdened with unnecessary, costly 
regulations when competitors no longer need to share those facilities.
  Instead of carrying out its responsibilities, the FCC passed the buck 
to the 50 states. Now, these issues will be argued in 50 states and, no 
doubt, appealed in 50 state courts. Meanwhile, incumbents and 
competitors will have to wait to learn under what rules they must 
operate and what their costs will be. Incumbents understandably will 
hesitate to spend on maintaining and improving their facilities because 
of this uncertainty. In addition, generation of new services and 
manufacturing jobs will be delayed.
  Because the FCC has forced the rulemaking job onto the states, 
incumbent phone companies, competitors and the states will have to pay 
for endless public utility commission and court proceedings. Of course, 
in the end, consumers in California and across the Nation will foot the 
bill. In the days following the FCC's decision, the telecommunications 
industry lost 15 billion dollars of capital value. A shudder went 
through the manufacturing sector, which has been waiting anxiously and 
desperately for incumbent telephone companies to increase their 
purchasing of equipment. Wall Street analysts downgraded the outlook 
for telecommunications service and manufacturing companies.
  In its Triennial Review decision, the FCC indicated that it may 
impose less regulation on broadband deployment than it has done on the 
traditional, copper, local telephone network. I would expect nothing 
less with the vigorous broadband competition that currently exists 
between phone companies and cable companies, and because broadband 
services are the future for the telecommunications industry.
  It is time for the FCC to remove the unnecessary burdensome 
regulations--actions that should have taken place with the passage of 
the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

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