The cell phone and mobile Internet industry could face a new regulatory framework over the next several years as lawmakers consider how to spur competition and streamline the patchwork of state laws in the wireless sector.

Several senior members of a House telecommunications panel said Thursday state regulations governing consumers' contracts with wireless companies should be preempted in favor of national standards.

At a hearing, House Energy and Commerce Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said states should continue their role in resolving disputes that arise between cell phone carriers and their subscribers.

Boucher wants to continue negotiating a draft state preemption bill that was crafted last year by Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who previously chaired the telecom subcommittee.

State preemption is a priority for the wireless industry. Lobbyists argue that cell phones and mobile Internet services by their nature cross state lines and should be governed by a single federal standard.

Lawmakers also are asking questions about exclusive arrangements between cellular providers and handset manufacturers.

AT&T Inc.'s (T) deal with Apple Inc. (AAPL) to be the sole wireless provider for the popular iPhone has raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Some lawmakers think such arrangements put smaller wireless companies at a disadvantage because they don't have access to the newest gadgets.

"I continue to question why a consumer is constrained" by handset exclusivity arrangements, said Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.

AT&T defends the arrangement as a normal way of doing business. Such deals are common in the industry and they generally don't last forever.

The House panel also is exploring whether to change cellular companies' roaming requirements to cover Internet data transfers rather than just phone calls.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who chairs the full Energy and Commerce Committee, said any carrier that accepts federal funds should be required to provide roaming services to other companies "on a just and reasonable basis."

Small companies like Leap Wireless International Inc. (LEAP), which does business as Cricket, say new roaming requirements are critical to their business models.

Larger companies like AT&T or Verizon Wireless make it difficult for competitors to enter a market when they overcharge for roaming rights or deny them altogether, said Robert Irving, Leap's senior vice president. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and Vodafone Group PLC (VOD).

Lawmakers also are asking whether wireless companies like Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) and T-Mobile USA, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DT), are paying too much to access landline connections needed to transfer their customers' voice and data exchanges.

Sprint has been heavily lobbying lawmakers and the Federal Communications Commission over the last several months for new rules that would lower the access prices. Those efforts are expected to intensify throughout the year with a public relations campaign and a coalition that includes public interest groups.

Sprint and some consumer advocates say Verizon and AT&T control 80% to 90% of the market for access to the "backhaul" network. Sprint says one-third of its operating costs for each cell tower are devoted to those access charges.

Verizon, AT&T, Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) and others argue that Sprint's claims ignore services offered by a host of competitors, including companies like Level 3 Communications (LVLT), who also sell those connections.

USTelecom, an association of telecom firms, has asked the FCC to compel data from competitor phone companies on how they sell access to high capacity networks.

The larger companies may have an ally in Dingell, who said at the hearing that competitor phone companies should make the same disclosures to regulators that are required from larger incumbents.

Boucher suggested companies like Sprint could use money from the broad economic stimulus bill enacted earlier this year to obtain access to backhaul networks.

-By Fawn Johnson, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9263; fawn.johnson@dowjones.com