This year’s exclusive Spring Policy Summit, held April 8, 2008, at the beautiful Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., provided a day packed with insight and discussion about the policy and regulatory environment for the information and communications technology (ICT) industries.

TIA member executives and decision-makers, as well as top government officials, showed up to take in the informative keynotes and diverse panels on accessibility, broadband, spectrum and trade policy.

Click here to see more photos, and read about the event in next week's Network.

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TIA supports passage of the Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which President Bush transmitted to Congress on April 8. Colombian exports to the United States already enjoy preferential tariff access under the Andean Trade Preference Act, which Congress extended earlier this year. Passage of the U.S. Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will ensure that U.S. exports to Colombia will receive reciprocal treatment, decreasing the costs of U.S. goods in the Colombian marketplace.

“Exports of WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA)-covered products, which include telecommunications equipment produced by TIA members, account for 15 percent of U.S. industrial exports to Colombia – an approximate value of $750 million,” stated TIA President Grant Seiffert.  “The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will help increase those exports by eliminating Colombian tariffs on telecommunications equipment,” Seiffert continued.

The Agreement will allow companies in Colombia to expand their telecommunications networks more economically while contributing positively to Colombia’s economic and infrastructure development. The U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement will also help ensure an open and competitive telecommunications market in Colombia with guarantees for U.S. companies to have nondiscriminatory access to local networks.

TIA urges Congress to approve the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement and will work with its 600 member companies and other industry associations to encourage Congress to support this Agreement.

For more information about TIA’s government affairs initiatives, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.

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After over a year and a half spent tackling the complicated process of updating accessibility standards, the Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee (TEITAC) presented its final report to the U.S. Access Board on April 3, 2008.  The report addresses how federal agencies and private industry are expected to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.

TEITAC members include industry, disability groups, standards-setting bodies in the U.S. and abroad, and government agencies.  The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) was represented by Mary Brooner, Motorola, who worked diligently with TIA member companies to convey industry point of view.  TIA member companies sell telecom products to federal agencies and to consumers.

“The issues tackled by this report are very complicated but extremely important not only to TIA member companies, but to the many Americans living with disabilities,” said TIA President Grant Seiffert, “TIA commends the hard work of the Committee and is committed to continuing an open dialogue between industry and the disability community.”

TEITAC was formed on July 6, 2006 by the Access Board and was tasked with providing recommendations for updates of accessibility standards issued under section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and section 255 of the Telecommunications Act.  The Committee was divided into sub-committees, such as Web and Software, Telecommunications, Audio Video, etc.  Products and services covered by these committees include everything from Web sites to multimedia to office products, such as fax machines and telephones.

The recommendations issued in the report are advisory, and the Access Board will initiate a formal rulemaking process before adopting regulations.  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates privately manufactured telecommunications, interconnected Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), and customer premises equipment, likewise has no obligation to implement the TEITAC report.  The FCC will take under advisement the recommended regulations of the Access Board when it reviews its own Section 508 regulations. 

Click here for a full copy of the report. For more information about TIA’s advocacy efforts, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.

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Patrick Sullivan has joined the association as Director of Technical and Government Affairs, where he will oversee spectrum, public safety and technical regulatory issues. Sullivan brings more than 12 years of legal and legislative experience with the federal government to his role at TIA, including litigation involving the FCC and drafting regulatory filings before the FCC and state telecommunications agencies.

"Patrick is a valuable addition to our Government Affairs team,” said Danielle Coffey, TIA Vice President, Government Affairs. “His depth of experience and knowledge of spectrum and public safety issues will serve our membership well.”

Sullivan previously served as counsel for Kajeet, Inc., a wireless provider, overseeing legal affairs and managing litigation matters, directing compliance with privacy and product liability laws, and conducting contract review. Prior to that position, Sullivan practiced law as a litigation associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where he represented clients in federal litigation matters involving complex securities class action claims, antitrust, malpractice liability, corporate compliance with federal law and regulations, telecommunications, and bankruptcy. He has also drafted regulatory filings before the FCC and state telecommunications agencies on wireless issues. Sullivan began his legal career as a senior legislative assistant and legislative director for several members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Sullivan received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and French Studies from Syracuse University and a Juris Doctor from the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America. He is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bar associations.

For more information about TIA’s government affairs initiatives, please contact Danielle Coffey at dcoffey@tiaonline.org.

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