Much of the discussion centers on the various effects of government regulation in the information systems market. Potential revisions to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, various governmental agencies' worries of dilution of the telecommunications revenue stream, and the fact that many less-affluent countries rely on taxation of incoming voice calls to support infrastructure like hospitals and clinics are some aspects of regulation and taxation that should be considered, according to the panelists.
The discussion covers the effects of the Brand X Supreme Court decision and the nearly consummated AT&T/SBC merger and the highly controversial MCI/Verizon merger. The discussion highlights the effect of merger conditions as a form of regulation, the relationship between regulation and monopoly, and the importance of fixing the inter-carrier compensation structure.
Issues such as the concept of natural monopolies and the treatment of legitimate end-user application as bandwidth pirates by the telecommunication companies are touched on. When asked to don the "evil hat" of the telecom industry and give advice to the telecommunications firms to slow the encroachment of internet protocol applications on the telecom business model, one presenter intones, "There must be tariffed rates at which all packets flow."
IT Conversations' publication of this program is underwritten by your donations and:
 |
Robert T. Blau is Vice President of Public Policy Development for the BellSouth Corporation. As a member of BellSouth’s Government Affairs office in Washington D.C., he is responsible for representing BellSouth’s positions and interests before key Federal officials and other interest groups involved in the setting of national telecommunications policy. Prior to joining BellSouth in 1985, he held similar positions with Bell Communications Research (Bellcore), Satellite Television Corporation, Communications Satellite Corporation (COMSAT), and the Federal Communications Commission. Mr. Blau holds a Ph.D. degree in telecommunications and economics from Indiana University, and is a graduate of DePauw University and the London School of Economics.
Bill Woodcock is research director of Packet Clearing House, a non-profit research institute dedicated to understanding and supporting Internet traffic exchange technology, policy, and economics. Bill has operated international Internet service provision and content delivery networks since 1989, and currently divides his time between building Internet exchanges in developing countries and researching efficiency and stability in the operations of critical Internet infrastructure. Besides PCH, he serves on the boards of directors of the American Registry for Internet Numbers, the Internet Capacity Development Consortium, and a number of for-profit ventures in the telecommunications sector. He also serves on the program committees of NANOG, APRICOT, and SANOG, and has published one book and numerous articles in networking publications.
Andrew McLaughlin is responsible for Google's global public policy advocacy. Before joining Google, he was a senior fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, and Vice President and Chief Policy Officer of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). At the Berkman Center, Andrew worked to reform the laws and regulations governing Internet and telecom networks in developing countries, including Ghana, Mongolia, Kenya, Afghanistan, and South Africa. Andrew continues that work as a board member of Bridges.org.
Greg Rogers is responsible for managing Level 3's regulatory compliance and public policy advocacy in all 50 states, in addition to providing day-to-day regulatory counsel to internal client groups. During his tenure at Level 3 he has handled a wide variety of local, state and federal regulatory matters that include negotiating and arbitrating interconnection agreements, intercarrier compensation, ROW access, number administration issues, CALEA compliance, Internet services, 911 and VoIP.
Resources:
This program is from the Supernova 2005 series.
For Team ITC:
This free podcast is from our Supernova series.