I called Cantwell's office and talked to Michael Baum. He's her staff guy
on the telecom issues.
I was told that the TV white spaces issue is off the table and won't be
messed with (that's a good thing for us).
There's an amendment to auction the white spaces instead, that won't pass.
The bill is due to go in for "markup" next week. Probably Tuesday. My take
on it is that this is the time that the bill as written will come out of
committee.... But others would know what that means better than I would.
I'm not sure that the overall bill will be good for us, it's 150+ pages long
I've not read it though. I'm supposed to get a copy shortly if anyone wants
me to forward it.
We also talked about USF reform. That one will likely end up bad, very bad
for us. Basically they aren't going to make any significant changes. They
are going to infuse it with a ton of cash AND make it harder for new players
to get any of it. So we'll not likely get any funding, we'll not as likely
have any competitive data line choices that aren't already there and the
rural telco will get something like $500,000,000 in new funds. Goody. Hey,
what do you guys expect? No one did jack squat on that issue. I hope you
are all happy with yourselves. sigh
Having said that, I'm not sure that there's much we can do to stop it. We
should still try but, reading between the lines, it seemed clear that the
telcos have a LOT of money to toss at campaigns and as long as they keep
taking care of the legislators those guys will keep the money flowing to
them. I'm not at all sure how to go about it, seems to me though, that the
only way we'll ever get the program stopped would be to get the public
pissed off and writing letters etc. Again, it wasn't stated but the message
was clear. There's too much in money going back to the rural legislators
for them to even think of anything that might hurt the rural telcos.
I don't have Frannie's email addy on my laptop. Can someone send this to
her?
laters,
marlon
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Scrivner" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org>
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 2:13 PM
Subject: Re: [WISPA] Critical Time for White Spaces
I guess I will answer my own post again. Am I the only guy who called these
Senators after we all put together the list of every member of the US
Senate Commerce Committee and their phone numbers? You can lead a horse to
water...
Scriv
John Scrivner wrote:
Sorry to answer my own post but I thought I would let you all know I just
called all of them. What are you doing for your own future access to Sub
1 GHz spectrum? Call the numbers below, tell them you support the
Wireless Innovation Act of 2006 and that you are against the DeMint
Amendment which would call for the auctioning of all television white
spaces. Do it now!
They will ask where you are from. Some will ask if you have spoken to
your own Senator. Make sure you call your own Senator first so you can
counter the question from the Senator staffers who will question you.
Call these people even though many are in other states. If your state
does not have a seat on the Commerce Committee then that would be a just
reason for you to be calling these other state Senators. You can
tactfully express that when asked where you are from.
If you want the unused television channels for unlicensed broadband use
then you better act now or forever hate trees. :-)
Scriv
John Scrivner wrote:
Please read this note from our friend Frannie from Free Press. She needs
our help right away! We need to call these Senators.
Scriv
Hi John and Marlon,
We have a crucial vote this week in the Senate Commerce Committee. The
Committee will vote on the telecom bill (S.2686) - it's not a good bill
in our opinion, but it does include a very good section based on Senator
Allen and Kerry's bill. It would push the FCC to open the white spaces
to unlicensed - we want to protect this section. Senator DeMint has
proposed a bad amendment to the bill which would auction this spectrum -
a very bad amendment.
So... the markup will begin tomorrow and it would be great if the folks
in WISPA could call Senators on the Commerce committee and ask them to:
a) support the current language in the telecom bill, the section is
called the Wireless Innovation Act of 2006'' or the ''WIN Act of 2006'
and
b) oppose the DeMint "Auction The White Spaces Amendment"
Commerce Committee members names and phone numbers are below. I would
focus on members other than Kerry, Allen and DeMint.
Let me know if you have any questions and thanks as always for your
help!
Thank you,
Frannie
Ted Stevens, Alaska (202) 224-3004
John McCain, Arizona, Chairman (202) 224-2235
Conrad Burns, Montana (202) 224-2644 Trent Lott, Mississippi (202)
224-6253
Kay Bailey Hutchison,Texas (202) 224-5922
Olympia J. Snowe, Maine (202) 224-5344 Gordon Smith, Oregon
(202) 224-3753 John Ensign, Nevada (202) 224-6244 George
Allen, Virginia (202) 224-4024
John Sununu, New Hampshire (202) 224-2841 Jim DeMint, South Carolina
(202) 224-6121 David Vitter, Louisiana (202) 224-4623
Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii (202)224-3934 John D. Rockefeller
IV, West Virginia (202)224-6472 John F. Kerry, Massachusetts
(202)224-2742 Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota (202)224-2551
Barbara Boxer, California (202)224-3553 Bill Nelson, Florida
(202)224-5274 Maria Cantwell, Washington (202)224-3441 Frank
Lautenberg, New Jersey (202)224-3224
Ben Nelson, Nebraska (202)224-6551 Mark Pryor, Arkansas (202)224-2353
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