The massive telecom reform bill (technically, the “Communications, Consumer’s Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act”) made it through the Senate Commerce Committee yesterday on a 15-7 vote. Although it’s now out of committee, its prospects for making it to the Senate floor this session are uncertain. Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) has indicated he doesn’t yet have the 60 votes necessary to defeat any filibuster attempts. The bill’s fate seems further complicated by the hot-button net neutrality issue. A net neutrality amendment co-sponsored by Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) was defeated on an 11-11 tie. That amendment drew no shortage of emotional debate and theatrics, and the issue will certainly be re-introduced in one form or another when the bill is debated by the full Senate. Stevens acknowledged “massive disagreement” over the issue, and net neutrality proponent Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) announced on the Senate floor that he had placed a “procedural hold” on the bill because of its lack of net neutrality provisions.

Certainly, the wide-ranging issues addressed in the telecom bill greatly impact Cable—from national video franchising rules to telephone interconnection rights. But complete details of the bill remain murky at this point, since the final version hasn’t yet been made public. So, in the absence of exact language, it’s premature for us to speculate on its possible impact on Cox Communications and other telecom players should a similar version ultimately become law. But telecom reform, when enacted, definitely will bring changes, so stay tuned.

One last note of interest for Cable from the eventful day in D.C.: An a la carte amendment to the bill sponsored by John McCain (R-Ariz.) failed on a 20-2 vote, with only McCain and Snowe voting for it. The amendment called for the granting of regulatory relief for cable operators and other video providers if they offered channels a la carte.