Telecom Act labeled "antiquated"

Verizon has called upon Congress to establish a new framework for telecommunications policies, as the company labels the current system as "broken." In a speech at the Federalist Society's National Conference, Verizon executive VP Tom Tauke criticized the current approach to Internet regulation as "antiquated and anti-competitive."

"The grinding you hear are the gears churning as policymakers try to fit fast-changing technologies and competitive markets into regulatory boxes built for analog technologies and monopoly markets," Tauke said.

The executive suggests new policies should be adopted at the federal level, while the framework should allow for "case-by-case adjudication." The proposal, which makes several critical critical references the FCC's net neutrality enforcement, also calls for a single federal agency given "clear jurisdiction."

Verizon earlier this year joined forces with several other Internet providers and Google to form the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group, an alliance that seeks to educate regulators and help draft policies regarding Internet "management policies." BITAG limited its aims to "useful guidance," however, rather than echoing Verizon's stronger call for an entirely new framework for establishing telecom policies.

By Electronista Staff