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Telco Stealth: Beating 'em back one state at a time.
By John P. Ourand
Back when they were full-fledged monopolists and continuing to the present day, telcos have always known how to mount impressive grassroots lobbying campaigns. Telcos' latest lobbying efforts are tied to their exploration of video applications, with cable's state associations fighting telco-sponsored bills in virtually every state capital. Jadz Janucik, NCTA's SVP of association affairs, serves as the liaison to the state and regional associations and is helping to coordinate the legislative battles at the state level.
CableWORLD: What is the critical issue for state associations this year?
Jadz Janucik: One of the most pressing is from Verizon, which basically wants to abolish local franchising. It wants to set up a certification process at the state level. Under its plan, it would agree to meet certain terms and conditions that would automatically put it in the business without having to go through a negotiation process with local municipalities.
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| Jadz Janucik is helping state associations fight telco-backed bills--and helping to coordinate those fights nationally. |
CW: Where is this a problem?
Janucik: Verizon pulled out all the stops to pass legislation in Virginia to eliminate local franchising obligations for their video service. The legislation was tabled but is likely to come up again next year. They've also made noises about introducing similar legislation in New Jersey, Florida and California. It's pretty clear that they have two major priorities: eliminate the negotiation process with municipalities for both the initial grant of a franchise and any subsequent transfer, and ensure that they have no obligation to build out the entire franchise area.
CW: What other issues are pressing?
Janucik: SBC is being aggressive about getting retail rate deregulation in their states. But sometimes the bills go far beyond that. We are not opposed to deregulation for our competitors. But SBC and the other telcos still are not subject to significant competition. We want to make sure that our interests are protected in those bills, particularly with respect to state oversight over interconnection agreements. We want to make sure that is not deregulated, so when we have a problem interconnecting we have somewhere to go to for arbitration.
CW: Where have you seen this?
Janucik: We've seen it in Idaho, Kansas, Missouri and Alabama. You're also likely to see it as part of rewrite legislation in three states: Illinois, Michigan and Texas. Clearly, the phone companies will seek to get deregulation as part of those statutes.
CW: Is this part of telcos' strategy of cherry-picking their customers?
Janucik: With respect to the Verizon bills, yes. It is absolutely an attempt to cream skim.
CW: What support does NCTA provide to state associations on these issues?
Janucik: We're here to review legislation. We try to help state associations develop arguments. We look for where we might seek amendments. We provide a forum for state associations to talk among each other. We track how these things play out in the different states.
CW: Last year, VoIP was the big threat at the state level. Is it still?
Janucik: The FCC answered a lot of those questions. In fact, I don't think we've seen anything at all on VoIP regulation.
CW: What else are telcos doing at the state level?
Janucik: The telcos are experiencing problems that the cable industry has historically experienced: competition from municipalities. The telephone companies have now begun to have legislation introduced in a number of states which would prohibit or impose restrictions on municipal entry into the telecommunications business.
CW: How are state associations evolving their meetings during this era of consolidation?
Janucik: While you're not seeing the regional shows so much--New England clearly is an exception--you are seeing state meetings where the operators of the state get together, bring in speakers and focus on the issues. The programmers and the hardware and software suppliers will come in and do some tabletops. That's continuing to occur, just on a smaller scale. They do more educational sessions and fewer golf tournaments.
Getting Personal With Jadz Janucik
Favorite TV Show: The Apprentice.
First Concert: Jefferson Airplane. I was 16.
Favorite Cocktail: Dirty Gibson.
Best Cable Get-Together: The NCTA Show, of course.
Favorite Restaurant: 2941, in Fairfax, Va. Back to this issue
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