NARUC’s resolution adopting a white paper on cooperative federalism...
NARUC’s resolution adopting a white paper on cooperative federalism did not address how the FCC should handle the jurisdictional implications of the IP transition on state-federal cooperation, said Free State Foundation Legal Fellow Sarah Leggin in a paper released Tuesday…
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(http://bit.ly/1jGjQY8). The resolution, adopted by NARUC Nov. 20 (CD Nov 21 p20), calls for better cooperation between federal and state regulators to “ensure the reliability of telecommunications networks and the satisfaction of consumer needs,” said Leggin. The FCC needs to declare “its exclusive jurisdiction” over the economic regulation of IP-based networks, she said. The interstate and international nature of IP-based services make jurisdictional determinations “impractical, if not impossible,” said Leggin. “Subjecting service providers to dual regulatory regimes will likely impede the continued upgrading and build-out of such advanced networks,” she said. Despite the “fundamental changes” to the technological landscape, the NARUC Presidential Task Force on Federalism and Telecommunications, which wrote the paper and resolution, suggested the FCC, states and NARUC members continue to focus on the basic goals of the Telecom Act for consumer protection, interconnection and call completion, public safety, evidence based decisionmaking, broadband adoption, access and affordability and universal service, said Leggin.