Modernizing US Telecom Law: Lessons from Denmark

Globally, the telecommunications, media, and Internet industries are converging and rapidly changing. These dynamics have strained legacy regulations and regulatory agencies like the Federal Communications Commission, which was created in the midst of the Great Depression in 1934. Most countries have eliminated state-owned media and phone companies and some, like Denmark, South Korea, and Japan, have dismantled or diminished the role of their national telecommunications agencies in recent years.

Amidst calls to modernize the FCC and the Communications Act, American regulators and lawmakers are looking around the world for successful models. Please join the Mercatus Center at George Mason University for a discussion with policy experts and regulators about the future of US communications law in a converged, Internet-based world. Drawing upon Denmark’s example—the development of a national market-led digital strategy—this event will explore modern, pro-growth telecommunications reform.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact Caitlyn Schmidt at cschmidt@mercatus.gmu.edu.

Program:

8:45 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.  |  Networking Breakfast

9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.  |  The Danish Model: Prospects for US Reform?

• Roslyn Layton, Fellow, Aalborg University Copenhagen and Visiting Scholar, American Enterprise Institute 
  • Author of "Alternative Approaches to Broadband Policy: Lessons on Deregulation from Denmark"
• Robert McDowell, Partner, Cooley LLP; former FCC commissioner; and Chief Public Policy Advisor, Mobile Future
• Lawrence J. Spiwak, President, Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies
• Moderated by: Brent Skorup, Research Fellow, Mercatus Center

10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.  |  The Future of Telecom Law: A Conversation with Chairman Pai and Jakob Willer

• Ajit Pai, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
• Jakob Willer, Director, Telecommunications Industry Association Denmark, and former division head at the National IT and Telecom Agency
• Moderated by: Greg Ip, Chief Economics Commentator, The Wall Street Journal