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Panel urges changes in telecommunication regulations to fuel new industry

U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice president Bill Kovacs made a pitch Thursday to unfetter the telecommunications industry, which he called "the central nervous system of the entire U.S. economy."

Telecommunications is vital to everything from medicine and education to real estate and banking, Kovacs told a crowd of 75 people at the Great Falls Civic Center during a panel discussion at an all-day technology forum and trade show.

Advances in information technology spurred 75 percent of improvements in U.S. labor productivity since 1995, he said. But regulations under 1996 Telecommunications Act have failed to keep pace with the changes.

As a result, the United States fell from fifth to 13th place in ranking of global broadband deployment and U.S. capital spending in telecommunications dropped from a peak of $132 billion in 2000 to just $55 billion in 2004.

Kovacs called for major changes in the law to allow "consumer demand, advances in technology and competition between telecommunication companies" to drive the market, not government rules.

Other panel members, for the most part, agreed.

By PETER JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Writer

Full Story: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050916/NEWS01/509160326/1002

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