The battle between Congress and the Federal Communications Commission only promises to get dirtier when the 105th Congress convenes in January.
Topping the telecommunications agenda is a possible FCC restructuring - part of a broader plan to implement the Telecommunications Act passed by the 104th Congress deregulating the telecommunications industry.
"The FCC was designed to be an agency to regulate monopolies, but now we're working with a new policy of competitiveness and open markets," Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-Louisiana), the newly appointed chairman of the House subcommittee on telecommunications and finance said in a phone interview Friday.
Earlier this week, four congressmen including Tauzin filed a brief with the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis against the FCC's so-called interconnection order, which outlined rules under which competitors can jack into local phone networks. The court is hearing challenges to the order.
"The Telecom Act did not give the FCC authority over rates, terms, and prices," Tauzin said. "Those belong to the states."
Outgoing chairman of the House subcommittee, Rep. Jack Fields (R-Texas), last Monday suggested that FCC Chairman Reed Hundt resign if he had "willfully and intentionally disregarded the specific language of the [Telecom] Act and the intent of Congress." Or, Fields suggested, "the president should appoint someone who can read."
Hundt's spokesman, David Fiske, said that Hundt met with Tauzin on Wednesday to hammer out upcoming telecom issues, and that the FCC chairman "looks forward to working with the new Congress."
Universal access, satellite spectrum, and regulating liquor and tobacco ads on the Internet also promise to be hot-button issues in the 105th Congress, Tauzin said.
Committee assignments are expected to be announced Monday.
