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Sent: Tuesday, February 10, 1998 5:48 AM
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Subject: FCC's Ness Calls For Internet Friendly FCC Policies
FCC's Ness Calls For Internet Friendly FCC Policies 02/10/98
WASHINGTON, DC, U.S.A., 1998 FEB 10 (NB) -- By Bill Pietrucha, Newsbytes.
They may be from the government, but they want to help, really. At least
that's what Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Susan
Ness says.
Speaking before the Washington Web Internet Policy Forum in Washington,
D.C. this week, Ness said that the general view of government's
approach is "Step One -- If it moves, regulate it. Step Two -- If it
doesn't move, kick it. Then, when it does move, regulate it."
"But I'm here to tell you, that's not how this Commissioner thinks,
and neither do my colleagues at the FCC," Ness said.
"Throughout the evolution of the Internet, the FCC has been careful
to tread lightly," Ness said. "We want to promote investment and
innovation, not unnecessary work for government and unnecessary
constraints on businesses or consumers."
Ness also pointed out that the FCC has repeatedly resisted proposals
to extend its regulatory reach.
"We haven't required Internet service providers to pay the per-
minute `access charges' that are imposed on long-distance carriers,"
she said. "We haven't subjected Internet service providers (ISPs) to
any of the other regulatory requirements that the Communications
Act places on carriers, such as price regulation or tariff filing or
universal service requirements. We haven't barred providers of
software for Internet telephony from selling their products."
Ness noted that the FCC is currently "grappling" with three primary
policy challenges regarding the Internet.
"As the Internet grows and evolves, we need to review existing
regulatory classifications and their attendant consequences," she
said. "The FCC must report to Congress on the regulatory treatment
of `transmission services' and `information services,' and to do so it
needs to assess the appropriate treatment of new services, such as
Internet telephony, that blur traditional distinctions."
Ness said the FCC also must ensure that homes and businesses have
access to the bandwidth needed to fully exploit the Internet's
potential.
"The single most important thing we can do to promote bandwidth
in the 'last mile' to the home is to accelerate competition among
multiple providers," Ness said, soliciting industry and user support
"in breaking open the local telephone and cable monopolies.
"And third, we must enable our children to take full advantage of
this extraordinary tool in schools all across the country; and ensure
that the benefits the Internet can bring to rural communities are
fully realized," she said.
Ness noted that the FCC is engaged "in a broader effort to
implement a pro-competitive and deregulatory communications
policy, following the mandate of Congress in the 1996 Act."
"I strongly believe that the marketplace, rather than regulation, is
the best mechanism for setting rates and determining which services
should be available," Ness said. "However, we can't simply
eliminate all the rules we have today and hope for competition. As
long as the incumbent local exchange carriers, and particularly the
Bell operating companies and GTE, retain significant market
power from their control over their bottleneck local loop, we will
need a transitional regime to move from regulation to competition."
The challenge for both the FCC and industry, Ness said, "is to
develop new models that allow us to deregulate rather than regulate,
while achieving the public policy goals of competition and universal
service."
Reported by Newsbytes News Network: <A HREF="http://www.newsbytes.com">http://www.newsbytes.com</A>
(19980210/Press & Reader Contact: Jim Casserly, Federal
Communications Commission, 202-418-2100)
From www.newsbytes.com