SST Conference Notes

Just a quick overview of observations/conversations from the South Sound
Technology Conference in Tacoma yesterday. The conference was a regional
gathering on Puget Sound area leaders, telecom/tech, and educators. Notable
participants were Rep. Adam Smith, Sen. Cantwell, and Gov. Locke. Rep. Norm
Dicks' office was there but he was on a defense trip to Europe.

Statements from Maria Cantwell:
She hoped the change in the Senate will change the direction of the Bush
Energy plan and she endorsed the Feinstein/Smith price cap legislation as
much needed relief for the Northwest.
She described her support for competition in the telecom industry. (while
not specific, it was a reference to Tauzin/Dingell which she didn't seem
supportive of).
She endorsed S.88, the Sen. Rockefeller bill to create tax incentives for
broadband deployment.

I didn't get any time with Sen. Cantwell, but I did spend some time with
Stacy Baird, her LD and her Chief of Staff (whose name escapes me at the
moment). I followed up with Stacy on our conversation last week in DC and he
told me that he was interested in EBS' thoughts on telecom issues going
forward after Tauzin/Dingell fades.

Statements from Gov. Locke:
Gov. Locke wanted the state to do a better job reaching out to area
businesses and encouraged more public/private parnerships. He gave the
example of too many streets being ripped up for fiber and that the state
should provide more leadership in managing infrastructure development.
The energy situation will be a critical factor in tech growth in WA. He
stated that some high-tech companies are threatening to leave Silicon Valley
because of the energy crises and that WA may find itself in a similar
position.

Unfortunately I didn't get an opportunity to speak with Locke after his
remarks.

Statements from Rep. Adam Smith
He pretty much echoed Locke's concern that energy supply and prices may cause
the region to lose jobs.
He supported Tauzin/Dingell stating that he didn't think most people
understood the "seriousness" of broadband infrastructure issues. He seemed
to believe that the RBOCs are the only hope for immediate DSL roll-out.

I spoke with Rep. Smith for about 10 minutes, mostly about telecom
competition. He mentioned that he had spoken to "Enron's DC people" about
energy, but I was unable to ascertain if it was a positive dialogue or not.
On telecom competition he had much the same perspective as Rep. Boucher last
week (RBOCs need to invest in new facilities free of competitors), but
recognized the point that the RBOCs should not be rewarded for years of
foot-dragging after the Telecom Act.

I also made a good contact w/ Rep. Dicks' district director who wants to
follow up on telecom infrastructure/trading issues.

MEDIA:

I was approached by to reprters, TV and print, to discuss energy, Gov. Davis,
and his meeting w/ Pres. Bush. I declined and directed them to Karen Denne.l

Takeaways:

The conference was a good opportunity to get our message out - I was able to
talk about the benefits of bandwidth trading AND the need to open the cable
monopoly,
I made some good contacts with Qwest, Terrabeam (laser last-mile company),
and the WA Software Alliance (Lew McMurran, their director of public affairs
mentioned he knew and worked with Paul Kaufman).
Energy is a HUGE issue in the tech community and it was never far from the
discussion. I was asked on the panel, "If Enron is advocating a new
commodity structure for telecom like it did for electricity, can we expect
CA-like problems in the future?" I think I answered it well, but I think we
will find it tougher to separate out businesses/messages in the future.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks, Scott