Hon. Paul E. Gillmor: “I rise in support of H.R. 1872. This bipartisan bill, of which I am a cosponsor, is intended to bring competition to the…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 1872. This bipartisan bill, of which I am a cosponsor, is intended to bring competition to the intergovernmental satellite organizations, INTELSAT and Inmarsat. It will also remove COMSAT's monopoly over access to these organizations. Fundamentally, this bill is a major policy decision that commercial satellite services should be provided by the private sector worldwide and not by the government. The government consortia may have been needed to run an international satellite system in the 1960s, but after almost 40 years, things change. We need to update our laws and our regulations to reflect the current marketplace. In addition, increasing the competitive nature of the international satellite marketplace is very important to ensure that private American satellite companies can compete on a level playing field. And today, the playing field is tilted toward INTELSAT and Inmarsat. These organizations are owned by monopoly providers of telecommunications services worldwide. Working in cartel fashion, they have tried to keep competition from developing.”