Verizon Communications Executive Vice President, Thomas Tauke, said during a panel discussion at the Consumer Electronics Show here that a broad reform measure is unlikely.

"I don't see the dynamics," said Tauke, the company's top lobbyist. "There's no compelling issue where consumers are experiencing a problem."

Lawmakers' priorities are elsewhere, argued Tauke -- who represented an Iowa district on Capitol Hill for more than a decade.

"Iraq is taking a lot of air out of the room," as are energy issues in the committees with jurisdiction over the communications industry, Tauke contended.

"You've got to go down 10 or 12 slots before you even hit telecommunications" on committee to-do lists, he added.

In addition, Tauke said the aspects of telecommunications reform likely to generate the most interest due to their controversial nature -- like video franchise reform -- largely have been resolved.

The switch to Democratic control on Capitol Hill also works against passage of a telecom overhaul bill because "the things that some leaders would do would garner a presidential veto," he said.

But Paul Misener, Amazon.com's vice president for global public policy, declared, "There will be a telecom act."

Many of the same issues that arose last Congress, including video franchise reform, "will be the topic du jour" this session, he predicted. "And I anticipate passage."

House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, D-Mich., told reporters in Washington Wednesday that there will be major telecom legislation in 2007.

Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, got the ball rolling Tuesday by reintroducing a network neutrality bill that is expected to trigger a new cycle of lobbying over Internet regulation.

When asked whether consumers care about a law that would mandate net neutrality -- the equal treatment of broadband content from different sources -- Misener said the overwhelming support from consumer groups and the millions of petitions signed by citizens shows they do.

"It is a clear and present danger, but it hasn't become a serious problem yet," he said.

Tauke argued that the broadband marketplace is still emerging, and that the big challenge is getting the infrastructure in place to provide high-speed Internet access to as many consumers as possible.

"You don't want to put rules in place that will freeze an existing business model" or deter investments in technology deployment, he warned.

The Verizon executive also contended that the net neutrality conditions which AT&T agreed to as part of its merger deal with BellSouth last month could be harmful in the long run.

"What they agreed to relating to the merger does not reflect what that company believes is the right public policy," Tauke said. "We don't think it should impact us."

FTC Chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, who also was on the panel, said her agency is investigating the net neutrality issue to determine whether any government enforcement is necessary.

"From a competition standpoint, we need to know more," she said.

The FTC has met with more than two dozen organizations, companies and individuals with stakes in the debate. A Feb. 13-14 workshop on broadband connectivity competition policy will help the agency decide if or how to act, she said.