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Ethics Concerns Prompt Telecom Veto
by Chloe Albanesius
Citing ethics concerns, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Monday vetoed a telecommunications bill that would have exempted providers from requirements that they "unbundle" their fiber-optic networks to give competitors access to different parts.
The Republican governor rejected the legislation after Gemini Networks, an opponent of the bill, S.B. 1097, wrote a letter to Rell that questioned the involvement of Public Utility Control Commissioner Jack Goldberg in bill negotiations. Goldberg was called to the legislature to offer expertise on the legislation as the commission had two cases before it involving Gemini, which is a conflict of interest, according to Gemini.
Rell said she consulted the state Ethics Commission and Judicial Review Council. The Ethics Commission said the issue was not in its jurisdiction, and the council does not reconvene until July 20. As Rell was required to act on the legislation by Monday, she opted for a veto.
"In light of the unresolved questions concerning this legislation, I believe it is preferable to veto" S.B. 1097 and leave it to the next legislature to iron out problems, Rell said in her veto statement.
The state is sensitive to ethics violations after its previous governor, John Rowland, resigned last year amid corruption charges. In March, he received a one-year jail sentence for his crime. Bill supporter SBC Communications accused Gemini of capitalizing on that sensitivity and said Rell was shifting responsibility on the issue.
As the bill moved through the legislature, SBC held meetings with Gemini and Goldberg, but Gemini did not raise any objection to the commissioner's presence until after the legislation was approved, said John Emra, SBC's executive director of external affairs. "If anything typifies sour grapes, this is it," he said.
Emra contends that the proceedings before the public-utilities commission involving Gemini are arbitrations, not contested cases, and Goldberg therefore could participate in talks about the bill. Questioning Goldberg's position is a lobbying tactic and "ethical McCarthyism," Emra said. The company is using the "heightened sensitivity" after the Rowland scandal in order to profit.
Emra also questioned why Rachel Rubin, Rell's "ethics czar," was not involved in the case. "I'd like to know what that woman is doing," he said.
"Rachel Rubin does not have the authority to decide the questions that were raised concerning this bill, so the governor forwarded them to the state agencies for their review," said Dennis Schain, Rell's communications director.
On July 28, legislators can override any of Rell's vetoes. Emra said lawmakers he has spoken with are "fairly shocked" that S.B. 1097 was vetoed. While it is too early to tell whether they will attempt to override the move, the strong support for the measure could prompt action later this month, he said. The Senate passed the bill unanimously and the House did so on a 144-4 vote.
In other news, Verizon Communications has decided not to appeal a Maine Supreme Court decision ordering the company to provide rivals access to its network.
Verizon claimed that FCC rules pre-empt it from having to unbundle its network, but the court found that that only applies to the company's fiber network, not its copper-based facilities. Skowhegan Online, the Internet service provider that challenged Verizon for the right to piggyback on its network, would use only the copper lines.
Peter Reilly, Verizon's Maine spokesman, said the company is "disappointed" by the ruling, but because its only options are to have the case heard by the Supreme Court or the FCC, Verizon decided that the cost of an appeal is not worth it.
When asked if Verizon plans to eventually replace all its copper lines in Maine with fiber, potentially making the ruling moot, Reilly said he had no knowledge of such an endeavor in the near future and could not comment on the company's plans.
Governors To Talk Broadband At Conference
The nation's governors will head to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend for the annual meeting of the National Governors Association (NGA) annual meeting, which will feature a Sunday session on the emerging role of high-speed Internet deployment.
Participants will examine the link between broadband access and economic growth and issues surrounding municipally owned networks.
"This meeting offers us the chance to sit down with fellow governors to learn about what works and what doesn't when rising to the challenges of economic development," South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, chair of NGA's Economic Development and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, the committee's vice chairwoman, called on governors to "improve these high-speed, interactive programs in the global marketplace."
Participants on the panel will include: Joseph Bast, president of the Heartland Institute; Brian Mefford, president and CEO of ConnectKentucky; Paul Morris, executive director of Utah's Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency; John Rutledge of the Rutledge Institute; and Jorge Schement, co-director of the Institute on Information Policy at Pennsylvania State University.
Tennessee To Digitize Health Records
Tennessee recently approved a deal to let BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee create a secure Web site that will allow multiple providers treating the same patient to access that person's medical records.
The Community Connection program, which will be operated by BlueCross subsidiary Shared Health, will be available this summer to participants of the state's beleaguered TennCare Medicaid plan and to all other TennCare participants by year's end.
Providers will have access to data on patient insurance claims, laboratory results, medications, immunization information and general identifying information. The state will not be charged for the program during its first year but will be charged per patient in the future. Patients and providers will incur no costs.
Sprint Sues Iowa Utilities Board
Sprint last week sued the Iowa Utilities Board for refusing to let the company negotiate local telephone prices, AP reports.
The local cable-television provider Mediacom Communications hired Sprint to provide local phone service using Medicom's cable wires. To do so, however, Sprint needed to work with the 27 local phones companies that would handle calls to their customers.
When those companies refused to negotiate with Sprint, the company sought the assistance of the Iowa Utilities Board. The panel in May ruled that under FCC rules, Sprint is not a telephone "common carrier" and cannot negotiate contracts with local companies.
In its lawsuit, Sprint claims that the decision violates the 1996 Telecommunication Act, and the company asks that the U.S. district court to declare Sprint a telecom carrier.
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