Fewer than two weeks after the second session of the 109th U.S. Congress convened, federal lawmakers already have started to consider a "discussion draft" of sweeping telecom reform legislation - including a new framework for the Federal Communications Commission - that surfaced last week in the House of Representatives.

Although several Capitol Hill legislators keyed into a "broadband" orientation of the proposed draft, the as-yet-unnamed legal package covers a wide berth of relatively potent regulatory, Internet access, voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP), emergency 911, video franchise and municipal-network provisos that have been debated for the whole calendar year to date (TelecomWeb news break, Sept. 16).

Said to emerge from bipartisan staff efforts at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the long-awaited draft legislation ostensibly seeks not only to replace the Telecommunications Act of 1996, but also to update the original Communications Act of 1934 in several respects. Among other things, it proposes giving the same regulatory treatment to all broadband IP offerings regardless of previously used service-provider and technology-delivery categories.

While alterations in the language certainly are possible, the 77-page draft measure is believed to represent the most realistic expectations for passage that could be worked out by Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), Vice Chairman Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), ranking member John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet.

Maintaining that the 1996 act addressed telco competition but could not have "foreseen the magnitude of the challenges and opportunities that the Internet age has presented" Barton last week said updating the bill is one of his top priorities for this fall.

"New services shouldn't be hamstrung by old thinking and outdated regulations," he added. "We need a fresh new approach that will encourage Internet providers to expand and improve broadband networks, spur growth in the technology sector and develop cutting-edge services for consumers."

Barton and Dingell, however, are likely to be echoing other lawmakers as well as industry lobbyists by characterizing the draft as "a solid first step" and a "useful starting point." Dingell, nevertheless, said he still is looking for a" full and fair committee consideration" as the legislative process moves along.

Upton said the release of the staff draft represented "a big step forward," and he expressed confidence that the House will pass comprehensive legislation before year's end. In this vein, Beltway sources also suggest the U.S. Senate should consider consolidating several discrete pieces of proposed telecom measures in that body in order to closely match the language and timeframe envisioned in the House.

The late-week emergence of the draft to an extent pre-empted the traditionally quick and widespread comment and reaction from business/lobbying organizations and pundits around Washington, D.C., yet this volume is certain to build in the weeks and months ahead.

One early remark from BellSouth's Herschel Abbott, vice president of governmental affairs, underscored the draft seemingly reflects "a fairly broad consensus' among the House committee leaders. "What is important today is that we have momentum. This is a very positive step toward having forward-looking, consumer-friendly, consumer-oriented legislation passed this year," he added in a prepared statement.

What Exactly Is BITS?

If a section-by-section priority in the draft is taken at face value, it appears the linchpin of the measure would be the creation of a common regulatory definition for what it calls broadband Internet transmission services (BITS) that includes digital subscriber lines (DSL), cable-modem offerings and all other broadband services.

The BITS definition fixates on packet-switched services, i.e., packetized information, features, functions, capabilities, facilities, network equipment and electronics, but it excludes circuit-switching related areas, video programming and customer premises equipment.

Title I of the draft establishes BITS as being "interstate services subject to exclusive federal regulatory jurisdiction," yet it prevents the FCC and other government bodies from regulating the rates, charges, terms or conditions, except if provided in the bill, such as retaining FCC authority over RF spectrum licensing and preserving state/ local authority to manage public rights-of-way in a non-discriminatory manner.

The measure also would tell the FCC to establish procedures for oversight of BITS network planning and the interconnectivity of devices and to participate in development of industry standards.

In addition, the draft says BITS providers must interconnect and exchange traffic with other BITS providers and telecom carriers, and it supports access to unbundled network elements (UNEs) and collocation. It offers a series of consumer protections: access to lawful content, applications and services; freedom to connect any devices; rules against blocking, impairing or interfering with usage; and rules against network features, functions or capabilities that don't comply with the bill's guidelines.