IP: Telecom bill snagged [I hope djf]

[Dave Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

> From Cable Regulation Digest:


  GOP REVOLT, HDTV SNAG TELECOM BILL
  Washington -- Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-Kan.) last week
said the telecommunications bill needs changes, pointing to free
access to high-definition TV spectrum by broadcasters as a key
problem.
  At a press conference Thursday, Dole said up to five unspecified
provisions had to be altered, adding that he was concerned that the
bill would create a "giveaway" to broadcasters that want to beam
digital pictures.
  House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), facing a revolt on telecom and
budget issues from 73 Republican freshmen, said he and Dole would meet
this week with lawmakers, possibly Wednesday, in an attempt to fashion
a compromise.
  Gingrich, like Dole, indicated that he had some problems with the
bill.
  A deal on the bill that surfaced two weeks ago turned out to be
premature as House Republicans balked when Vice President Al Gore
quickly embraced the tentative compromise. Gingrich now has to see
whether he can't change the bill this week to mollify his GOP freshmen
while retaining bipartisan Senate and White House support.
  Last month, Dole signaled that he was unhappy with the bill,
suggesting that the measure being developed by a 45-member House-
Senate conference committee was losing its deregulatory thrust.
  Last week, Dole suggested that the bill was too generous to
broadcasters. Under the bill, only current TV broadcasters would be
initially eligible for valuable HDTV licenses that the Federal
Communications Commission would have no authority to auction.
  The FCC has estimated the worth of the spectrum set aside for HDTV
at $11 billion to $70 billion. The bill would require broadcasters at
some point to give back one of its TV licenses. The FCC said
broadcaster spectrum used today could be worth between $40 billion and
$100 billion if auctioned.
  Both Dole and Gingrich could be looking at the auction of HDTV
spectrum or the analog spectrum as a source of funding to conclude
budget talks with the Clinton administration. Attempts a few months
ago to force broadcasters to pay for the HDTV spectrum or force
broadcasters to abandon their current spectrum allocation by 2002
failed.
  However, Senate Commerce Committee chairman Larry Pressler (R-S.D.)
inserted into the budget bill a provision requiring the FCC to study
the feasibility of HDTV spectrum auctions before issuing licenses. But
the provision retained for Congress the authority to mandate that the
HDTV spectrum be auctioned. House Republicans -- Jack Fields (R-Texas)
and Michael Oxley (R-Ohio) in particular -- slammed on the brakes two
weeks ago and helped scuttle an apparent deal.
  Key lobbying groups -- the cable industry, the Baby Bells, long-
distance companies and broadcasters -- are all backing the bill as the
best deal available that this Congress will pass and Clinton will
sign.
  If the bill fails to pass Congress this week, some sources said
Congress would not return to pressing legislative business until late
February.