May 10, 2010 

Rep. Cross Says New Telecommunications Law would create jobs in Illinois

SB 107 now heads to the Governor’s desk 

Rep. Tom Cross urges Governor Quinn to sign a bill that aims to create thousands of jobs in Illinois.  This month the Illinois General Assembly unanimously passed a bill that will modernize the telecommunications industry by approving a number of changes to the Telecommunications Act that was last modified in 2001.

 “We need to keep up with the times, especially in the area of communication technology in order to grow the economy and create jobs here in Illinois,” said Rep. Cross.  “We have provided much needed updates to the Telecommunications Act so the private sector can better focus their resources on building quality, affordable infrastructure for the most modern technologies like wireless and broadband services. 

Almost every year, numerous advancements are made particularly in the areas of wireless communication and high-speed, broadband internet. Senate Bill 107 provides revisions to address these modernizations to the Illinois Telecommunications Act which was last updated in 2001.  

The intent of the legislation is to remove stiff regulations on phone companies which were put in place to ensure quality and affordable landline service.  However, copper landline phone service has dropped dramatically in the past years and a number of these phone companies are still required to commit a great deal of resources to the service in order to remain in compliance with the law.  Because a number of phone companies have now branched out to wireless phone service, broadband internet, and cable television, they want to free up funds spent on landline service and use those to improve other communications areas, such as access to high-speed internet.  A study from Connected Nation shows that the updated law could save or create more than 105,000 jobs. 

There are a number of provisions within the legislation to ensure landline phone service will not be sacrificed due to these changes.  Consumers who rely on their home phones will still have a number of low cost options that provide quality phone service, as well as guaranteed credits if the service is not up to standard. 

“This legislation will bring us up to speed with surrounding states that have already modernized their telecommunications laws to attract new businesses,” said Rep. Cross.