Telecom Act at 30: What It Got Right, and What Work Remains

At the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s “Telecom Act at 30” event on March 5, the architects of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 reflected on how the law came to be, what was successful, and the work that remains to achieve true universal service. Benton Senior Counselor Andrew Jay Schwartzman moderated a panel featuring Gina Keeney, Chip Pickering, Katie King, and John Windhausen. Schwartzman started by asking panelists to set the scene and describe the environment in which the legislation was drafted. They recalled a moment of collaboration and momentum, when fights were shaped more by regional and sectoral interests than by party. "There was a real feeling of bipartisanship and also a momentum for doing," said Keeney, who described a legislative environment that had already produced the Cable Act of 1992 and authorized spectrum auctions in 1993.