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President's Message
States’ Actions Direct Telecom’s Future
by Ric Telthorst, MTIA President
Most of you know that I haven’t spent my career in telecom. At one time I managed Missouri government affairs for a national association representing the oil industry. A promotion about 15 years ago brought with it a new responsibility: lobbying on Capitol Hill.
Wow −− I really thought I had arrived. My new job would take me to Washington three or four times a year to lobby Missouri’s Congressional delegation. After years of working with state legislators, I thought this would really be the "Big Time."
Boy, was I wrong. I quickly found out that my years of state experience didn’t translate well in DC. I really was the "new kid on the block," and understanding the ways of Congress took some time.
I also realized that I just didn’t like the environment as well. Unlike the state house, where things moved at a good clip and you could get your arms around most issues, things at the federal level seemed to move at a snail’s pace. The process was slow, the path murky, and the results mostly unsatisfying.
Near the end of that job, my trips to DC were among my least favorite duties. I came to look forward to view of the Capitol Dome… as seen in the rear view mirror of the cab headed back to the airport.
Since then I have come to believe even more that state governments truly are the "laboratory of democracy" as one observer has put it. They are where real public issues get real action. Just this summer, I’ve had two experiences that underscore my opinion.
In June, I attended a regional conference of state public service commissioners from the Midwest. One workshop, lead by Robert Clayton, one of our own Commissioners, was entitled "Is the Action Shifting Back to the States?" The panel concluded that despite apparent inaction or "protracted" action on telecom issues at the federal level, state regulatory commissions were dealing directly and effectively with a number of core issues, including video franchises, VoIP, phantom traffic and ETC requirements.
In July, I was fortunate to attend the OPASTCO summer conference in Anchorage. There several industry speakers once again outlined the slow pace that national policy makers seem to be taking on issues important to our industry.
Meanwhile, in Missouri our state lawmakers have dealt directly with a number of thorny telecom issues over the last several years. And, working through the association, our industry has made real progress working with them. In 2001, we achieved a successful rewrite of the state laws governing our use of the public right of way. In 2005 our industry, together with the legislature, crafted a major revision to Missouri’s decade−old telecommunications law. Just this year we helped pass legislation easing the entry of telecom providers into the video market.
Over those years we have also dealt effectively with a number of smaller but equally important legislative issues aimed at maintaining the health of the industry in Missouri. That effort continues this summer as we begin meetings with House and Senate committees looking at other telecom regulatory issues.
As you know, it is not always easy or even possible to reach agreement on every issue. In response to one of my recent e-mails about a potential PSC workshop on industry regulation, one of our members asked me how I thought we’d deal with the diversity of opinion on the issue. That forced me to ask myself −− well, how were we going to do it?
My answer was to agree that yes, diverse opinions were certainly likely; but that we would attempt to find as much consensus as possible, and then work from individual agendas as needed.
In looking at my response before I hit the "send" key, I realized how true it was that we would have to “find” as much consensus as we could. Consensus is seldom readily apparent, and look for it we must.
At the end of the day, perhaps that is the best use we can ever make of our association…as a forum where we work hard at consensus on the issues most important to our future.
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