USTelecom Participates in PLI Panel on Telecom November 14th, 2008
Robert Mayer

This week, I participated on a panel sponsored by the Practicing Law Institute in New York City on Communications Law in the Digital Age 2008.  My panel was titled “Electronic Media Regulation” and covered an extensive array of telecom issues, ranging from the impact of the new Administration, to the DTV transition.  I was joined by Robert D. Joffe, Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP, Marsha J. MacBride, Executive Vice President, Legal and Regulatory Affairs, National Association of Broadcasters, and Gigi B. Sohn, President and Co-Founder, Public Knowledge.

Among other topics covered, I told the audience that it was still too early to read the tea leaves with respect to leadership at the FCC.  However, I said that we expected the reformed Commission to continue on a path consistent with the 1996 Telecommunications Act that encourages pro-competition and pro-investment policy.  I also noted that the FCC would likely avoid any policies that operated as disincentives for investment in broadband infrastructure.  I expressed a view that the primary focus in Congress was likely to be on further broadband deployment, especially in more rural areas of the country.  Finally, I indicated that reasonable network management was a foundation principle of the FCC which USTelecom supports and that enforcement of any abuses by the FCC was best accomplished via a case-by-case assessment.

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