"I remain convinced," he said in an interview today, "that telecommunications issues are essentially nonideological."

AARP is taking on telecommunications issues in a way it hasn't in many years, he said.

But a Senate aide specializing in telecommunications issues said he doubted that a full divestiture would be necessary to protect consumers.

Two years ago he served as the head of the Bush transition team for telecommunications issues.

Irving was a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team focusing on telecommunications issues.

Michael D. Gallagher, the top Bush administration official for telecommunications issues, said on Monday that he had decided to step down early next year.

The first is local telecommunications issues, particularly making sure high-speed transmission lines come to small towns.

Burton defended his participation in the tournament, saying it would not affect his objectivity when dealing with telecommunications issues.

The proposal "starts a very interesting dialogue about a number of telecommunications issues in a very concrete manner," he said.

"Money managers have no tolerance for risk," he said, because WorldCom and other telecommunications issues "have destroyed people's years."