Proposal Seeks to Make Bells Play Fair
Jul 28th, 2008 | By Dawn R. Rivers | Category: TechnologyThere is language in the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that allows companies to petition the FCC to refrain from applying standing regulations on them. There is also language designed to force the FCC to make decisions about those petitions in a reasonable amount of time. You wouldn’t think that would cause much problem but it does. The “deemed granted” language states that, if the FCC doesn’t act on forbearance petitions within a specific time frame, then that petition will be deemed approved.
It is also deemed approved in the event that a vote of the FCC Commissioners results in a tie. And unsuccessful petitioners can re-file their petitions, asking for the very same relief, as soon as a denial is handed down. All of which clogs up the system, wastes resources of the FCC and opposing stakeholders, and is being used to re-write the underlying legislation. And all of this is being done by large telecom corporations working to keep smaller firms away from their market share. Legislation to fix this is in the pipeline; there is even talk of bipartisan compromise to find a solution. That’s impressive, all by itself.
