Inside The Beltway 09/25/12

With the election just weeks away, a Presidential Scorecard, released today by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), summarizes President Obama’s and Gov. Romney’s respective positions on a variety of policy issues critical to the information and communications technology (ICT) industry and to job creation. The scorecard highlights key differences – and several similarities – between the candidates, i.e., while they disagree on a specific corporate tax rate, both men want to strengthen and make permanent the research and development tax credit – a key priority for the ICT industry. The candidates also agree that the national cybersecurity policy must be updated; each favors market-based regulations that place minimal burdens on companies, but to differing degrees. Gov. Romney, for instance, would cap annual increases in regulatory costs. He also opposes net-neutrality legislation, while President Obama supports it. Notes TIA President Grant Seiffert, “The next four years present a critical opportunity for investments in wireless network infrastructure, rural broadband build-out, research and development, and other initiatives that will lead to hundreds of thousands of new jobs and improved service for consumers.” To read the Scorecard in its entirety, click here…At its monthly open meeting Friday, the Federal Communications Commission will consider three agenda items: a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to update, streamline or eliminate earth- and space-station licensing requirements, thus reducing regulatory burdens on licensees and accelerating delivery of new satellite services to consumers; a NPRM to implement an incentive auction of broadcast television spectrum; and a NPRM that initiates a review of its policies governing mobile spectrum holdings.