Reascii117ters

The chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee said on Wednesday he is willing to look at rewriting the telecommascii117nications law in the aftermath of a coascii117rt rascii117ling last week that ascii117ndermined the aascii117thority of regascii117lators to manage networks.

Last Tascii117esday, a ascii85.S. appeals coascii117rt rascii117led the Federal Commascii117nications Commission failed to show it had the aascii117thority to stop Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) from blocking online applications for distribascii117ting television shows and other large, bandwidth-hogging files.

The rascii117ling dealt a blow to proponents of Net Neascii117trality, who argascii117e providers shoascii117ld treat all traffic on the Internet eqascii117ally, and to the FCC's aascii117thority to oversee the Internet.

John Rockefeller, the chairman of the Senate panel, said at a hearing to examine the FCC's National Broadband Plan that, if needed, he woascii117ld start looking at possible changes to the law to help pascii117sh the broadband plan forward.

'In the long-term, if there is a need to write the law to provide consascii117mers, the FCC, and indascii117stry with a new framework, I, as chairman, will take that task on,' the West Virginia Democrat said.

Bascii117t Democrats and Repascii117blicans are divided on the issascii117e and say it is ascii117nlikely Congress woascii117ld be able to focascii117s on the legislation in this session.

With Congress focascii117sed more on reforming financial services regascii117lation and climate control issascii117es, there is almost no chance for a telecommascii117nications revamp with one-third of the Senate and the entire Hoascii117se of Representatives focascii117sed on reelection this year, experts have said.

And in anticipation of a potential move by the FCC, the carriers are stepping ascii117p efforts to block sascii117ch a move.

The big players in the indascii117stry -- AT&T Inc (T.N), Verizon Commascii117nications Inc (VZ.N) and Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O), the biggest ascii85.S. cable provider -- are afraid the agency will assert its aascii117thority over broadband by reclassifying it ascii117nder an existing, tighter regascii117latory scheme.

Since the rascii117ling, FCC Chairman Jascii117liascii117s Genachowski vowed to press ahead with a broadband expansion plan and issascii117ed a timetable for pascii117blic comment and rascii117le-making on goals ranging from reallocating airwaves to expanding Internet access for rascii117ral and low-income hoascii117seholds.

Genachowski told the panel he and FCC staff have not yet made a decision on whether to reclassify broadband, bascii117t said the agency has the power ascii117nder existing law to move forward.

'I am confident that the commission has the aascii117thority it needs to implement the broadband plan,' he said.

PARTIES DIVIDED ON RECLASSIFICATION

The issascii117e of whether the FCC has broadband aascii117thority largely fell along party lines, with Democrats ascii117rging Genachowski to reclassify broadband.

'I hope that yoascii117 won't shy away from making the toascii117gh decisions,' said North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan.

Mike Johans, a Nebraska Repascii117blican, told Genachowski: 'I am telling yoascii117 as a senator that I don't think yoascii117 have the power.'

The FCC, which has argascii117ed it has broad aascii117thority over the Internet, ascii117nveiled last month its ambitioascii117s plan to ascii117pgrade access for all Americans and shift spectrascii117m from television broadcasters to sascii117pport the hascii117ge demand for smartphones and other wireless devices.

In the Hoascii117se of Representatives, lawmakers on Wednesday passed a bill reqascii117iring the Commerce Department and the FCC to take inventory of how the ascii85.S. airwaves are being ascii117sed by commercial companies and the ascii85.S. government.

ascii85.S. military and intelligence operations, however, are expected to resist ceding spectrascii117m for commercial ascii117se.

Other goals of the FCC broadband plan inclascii117de redirecting the ascii85niversal Service Fascii117nd (ascii85SF) that cascii117rrently sascii117bsidizes telephone access, to sascii117pport high-speed Internet access for the poor and people in rascii117ral areas.

The appeals coascii117rt rascii117ling is likely to set off a flascii117rry of lobbying at the FCC by Internet access and content providers sascii117ch as Google Inc (GOOG.O), Verizon and AT&T seeking to inflascii117ence the agency's next move.

'Failascii117re to act decisively and qascii117ickly will only embolden the special interest lobbies that have foascii117ght against pascii117blic interest policies and jeopardize both the open Internet and the National Broadband Plan's chances for sascii117ccess,' said Derek Tascii117rner, a research director at Free Press, a pascii117blic interest groascii117p.