WASHINGTON -- Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell warned his fellow commissioners today that they would eventually regret Thursday's FCC decision to further study intercarrier compensation reform.
After reviewing the issue for the last four years, the FCC is now seeking comment on seven reform proposals submitted to the agency by various telecom industry groups and alliances. Given the FCC's rulemaking procedures, any final decision made on the proposals is probably months away at best.
Powell and Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy bluntly said the time had come for action, not more study.
"Today, we act as timidly as ever in the name of dialogue and process," said Powell, who announced his resignation last month. "If you're looking for bold action, you're certainly not going to find it here."
The emergence of IP-based communications over the last three years, most notably Voice over IP (define), has put the FCC in a quandary over how to fit 21st-century technologies into a 70-year-old structure originally designed to regulate the then publicly owned telephone system.
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