BROAD ALLIANCE SHAPING UP AS CLECS SURVEY NEW WASHINGTON LANDSCAPE

摘要

Competitive phone companies must retool lobbying efforts for a changed Washington, industry executives said on a panel at the CompTel show in Dallas. Competitors should find creative new ways to pitch their interests and should lobby all parts of government, panelists said. "As the players change, our message has to change, too," said Matt Salmon, CompTel's president. Competitors and public-interest groups are planning a broad new coalition, and it may surface in two to four weeks, a CLEC official said. The official wouldn't disclose the group's leader or lineup but said a membership beyond CLECs is sought. If a competitive alliance forms, it should include more than phone companies because industry efforts are sometimes seen as self- serving, said Kim Bayliss, managing director of Dutko Worldwide. A coalition should include customers, consumer groups and organizations like Free Press, she said. "This administration is going to look at what's in the public interest," what will create jobs and what will protect consumers, she said. nnCompetitors should frame their message to reflect current events and new Washington power players, Salmon said. In lobbying House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman, for example, CLECs should explain how reaching their goals would help the environment and consumers, he said. And efforts to eliminate forbearance on FCC rules should invoke the economic crisis, Salmon said. CompTel has been telling policymakers that investors are "dubious" about putting money into CLECs because forbearance decisions can put them out of business overnight, he said. Salmon urged CompTel members to come together on how to change intercarrier compensation. Members don't agree, because their business models differ, he said. Failure to agree could come back to haunt CLECs when the FCC deals with the issue again, Salmon said. "There will be another deliberation" in the "not so distant future," he said. "Mark my words."