Obama vs. McCain: Who is telecom's favorite?

Last week during NXTcomm, I had the chance to ask Grant Seiffert, NXTcomm co-host and president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, whether the TIA favored John McCain or Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race. It was a loaded question for Seiffert, a former McCain staffer, but he did his own constituents--hundreds of telecom vendors--right by saying the TIA would be evaluating both candidates' stances on various issues in the months to come before picking a side.

As the TIA and many in the telecom industry try to determine which candidate is the better one for telecom, one of the issues that is sure to determine their positions is Net Neutrality. Obama is for Net Neutrality legislation, and McCain against it, according to The Wall Street Journal. Obama seems to get points for his campaign's aggressive use of the Internet and the number of Internet big-wigs who support him, but it sounds like there is still much more we need to hear from both candidates before telecom's favorite becomes clear.

For more:
- read this story [1] at The Wall Street Journal

Related articles:
Telecom industry execs so far have not had a good read on either candidate Telecom industry report [2]
Obama dominates mobile web searches Obama report [3]