FCC grilled on new role: telcomsubcom chairman Fields and others say commission needs restructuring in wake of new law.(Federal Communications Commission; House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee Chairman Jack Fields; 1996 Telecommunications Act)

Broadcasting & Cable, April, 1996 by McConnell, Chris

Telcomsubcom chairman Fields and others say commission needs restructuring in wake of new law House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee Chairman Jack Fields (R-Tex) is worried that the FCC may overstep its authority in implementing the 1996 Telecommunications Act. During a wide-ranging discussion last week of the FCC budget, functions and pending rulemaking procedures, Fields asked FCC Chairman Reed Hundt if the commission has considered a plan to provide pagers to the homeless as part of its implementation of the act's universal telecommunications service provisions.

Fields said such a plan would go far beyond the intent of Congress. "This type of consideration I would consider a distraction," he added. Fields raised the issue during a hearing...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.