New Media Bureau Chief Praised for Wide Regulatory Experience

Media issues that Desai tackled in her most recent job, as Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau chief, included closed-captioning TV waivers (CD Sept 20 p1). Under Desai, the bureau issued letters in Sept. letting hundreds of programmers, most not-for-profit groups, escape closed- captioning rules. Advocates for deaf people have praised Desai’s willingness to listen to their concerns: The bureau changed course and asked for public comment on the waivers.

The ability to bone up on contentious issues will be tested in Desai’s job because she seems to have a lot to learn about other mass media issues, said broadcast and cable lawyers. She’s largely an unknown quality in industry because she lacks the long communications background of predecessor Donna Gregg, said communications lawyers. Of the 8 lawyers we spoke with, 5 said they didn’t know Desai. Gregg took the top MB job in mid-2005 with a long history in communications, holding a top job at the Corp. for Public Bcstg. and advocating for the industry as an FCBA member (CD June 8/05 p6). Lawyers who know Desai praised her intelligence in dealing with telecom issues. She has held various posts in the Wireline and Wireless bureaus. NAB is “pleased” by Desai’s selection, Exec. VP Dennis Wharton said: “Throughout her tenure at the FCC, she has proven to be a capable and experienced public servant. We look forward to continuing our working relationship.” NCTA declined comment.

“She’s worked on a lot of issues across the Commission,” said a former FCC staffer who’s now an industry lawyer: “She’s proven she can manage a bureau effectively, and that’s going to serve the Commission well… She’s very well liked and very well regarded both inside and outside the Commission.” Two other lawyers said they held Desai in high regard. “I've always found her to be a very able, effective FCC staff official,” said Richard Wiley, a former chairman. “She goes in with 2 big assets: She’s run a bureau and people like her. She’s well respected from everything I know.”

Desai brings to MB a valuable close working relationship with Martin, said communications lawyers including Wiley. She has been described by agency and industry officials as part of Martin’s “inner circle,” which lawyers said may help her get action on issues. “If she thinks Kevin is wrong, she [might] be able to tell him,” said another veteran communications lawyer. Desai was Martin’s interim adviser on spectrum and international issues. Before joining the Commission in 1999, she was an associate at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. In that job, “she worked on government contracts, commercial litigation and environmental regulatory matters,” said an FCC written statement announcing her appointment. Desai declined to comment.

MB policy likely won’t change radically under Desai, lawyers said, whether they know her or not. Desai will probably take her cues from Martin, as do other bureau chiefs, they said. “With Donna or Monica, the chairman is going to do what he’s going to do,” a regulatory lawyer said: “The decisions are going to be made on the 8th floor.” Another lawyer concurred, saying: “It will be continuity, with a lot of heavy lifting out of the way.” An analyst agreed. “I doubt there will be much of an impact on policy,” Stanford Group’s Paul Gallant, a former 8th floor staffer, said: “The chairman has been at the commission since 2001 and has already carved out his position on most of the big issues.”

Desai’s job was made easier in some ways because Martin gave Gregg the mission of overhauling some decisions made by Michael Powell, the previous chairman, said a communications lawyer. An example of Gregg’s work is the bureau’s 2006 a la carte report, which rescinded an earlier bureau finding and said cable operators could reduce customer bills by selling channels individually, the lawyer said. “Monica’s just got an easier job,” he said, because Gregg has “done a ton… in terms of effectuating a change from the Powell-lead administration to one with a very different set of core ideas.”

Gregg’s experience will be missed at the bureau, said 4 lawyers we spoke with. “Memory is walking out the door,” cable consultant Steve Effros said, describing Gregg as “one of those people who had a lot of institutional memory and experience regarding mass media and particularly cable.” Gregg may continue to work at the FCC in her new job as senior policy adviser to Ambassador Richard Russell at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), said a Commission official. Government representatives to interagency panels such as WRC often continue to work at the agency where they were last employed, said the official. Russell is the boss of incoming International Bureau Chief Helen Domenici.

Domenici Appointment ‘Great All Around’

Domenici, an FCC International Bureau alumna, told us she’s excited to return as chief. She was with its telecom division 4 years as a policy analyst, moving in 2002 to the White House as asst. dir. for telecom and information technology at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). “I look forward to returning to the FCC’s International Bureau as it’s where I got my start in telecommunications,” Domenici said Tues. “I'm very excited about managing the bureau with which I am familiar.”

FCC Chmn. Martin said the Commission “is fortunate to have Helen’s government and communications experience.” FCC officials, former officials and industry members we spoke with all agreed. “It’s a wonderful appointment,” said former International Bureau Chief Donald Abelson, who retired in June after 7 years at the International Bureau helm.

Former FCC colleagues called Domenici “astute” and “a hard worker,” as well as “very nice” and “down to earth.” Daughter of Sen. Domenici (R-N.M.), former Energy & Natural Resources Committee chmn., Helen downplays her family’s political status and has earned her progress in Washington, sources said. “Her last name has nothing to do with her appointment,” an industry source said: “This is not cronyism. She truly is a professional in her own right and merits all of the opportunities that have come her way.”

“The FCC is lucky to have Helen back,” Stifel Nicolaus Vp Rebecca Arbogast, Domenici’s former FCC boss, said: “She is smart, hard working, confident without being arrogant. When we worked together I found she could see both the large picture and be rigorous in analyzing the supporting details. Most important, she was an independent thinker and was not afraid to ask hard questions and challenge a proposition when everyone around was acting like it was unassailable. She would say the emperor has no clothes.”

Domenici is OSTP Technology Division Dir. Russell’s right hand person, a source said: “He relies on her implicitly.” In that role, she develops and coordinates domestic and international policy on telecom, broadband, spectrum and Internet matters, an FCC statement said. Most importantly, Domenici is “the highest ranking person focusing solely on telecom within the White House,” a source said: “Here you have somebody who has White House credentials and who has been at the Commission. It’s great for the bureau staff to have ‘one of your own’ leading you. It’s great that she understands how the White House works. It’s great all around.”

Domenici’s start date hasn’t been announced. “She'll start whenever Richard Russell is willing to let her go,” joked an FCC official. Domenici has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from U.Va. Prior to working at the Commission, she spent 5 years with Pfizer’s federal govt. affairs office. Martin hasn’t said what is next for acting International Bureau Chief John Giusti.