The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced an aggressive schedule of telecom related hearings starting in January. The hearing are seen as a prelude to possible congressional action on revising the Telecom Act next year. Nomination hearings were also scheduled for open FCC Commissioner seats.
Senate Commerce Committee | |
December 13 | Nomination hearings for Michael Copps and Deborah Taylor Tate to be FCC Commissioners |
| January 24 10:00 AM Tuesday | Video Franchising |
| January 24 2:30 PM Tuesday | Video Content |
| January 26 10:00 AM Thursday | Full committee hearing on Competition and Convergence |
| January 31 10:00 AM Tuesday, | Broadcast and Audio Flag - |
| February 7 10:00 AM Tuesday, | Net Neutrality |
| February 14 10:00 AM Tuesday, | State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks |
| February 14 10:00 AM Tuesday | State and Local Issues and Municipal Networks |
| February 28 10:00 AM Tuesday | USF Contributions |
| February 28 2:30 PM Tuesday | USF Contributions |
| March 2 10:00 AM Thursday | Wireless Issues/Spectrum Reform - |
| March 7 10:00 AM Tuesday | Rural Telecommunications - |
| March 14 10:00 AM Tuesday | VoIP |
| March 14 2:30 PM Tuesday | Wall Street's Perspective on Telecommunications - |
- In July 2005, Senator John Ensign (R-NV) proposed a bill that would eliminate the requirement that video service providers obtain a cable franchise agreement in order to provide video service. The legislation seeks to promote inter-modal competition between telcos and cable operators by making it easier for telcos to launch video services. The proposed bill contained provisions covering Net Neutrality, Access to Content, IP Mobility, diversity of programming, municipally-owned networks and other regulatory topics.
