Few FCC Officials Making Trip to CTIA Show as Sequester-Related Cuts Kick In
In what might be a first for a major national conference, next week’s CTIA show in Las Vegas will not be attended by any key FCC staff beyond the three commissioners and their aides. With the sequester putting more pressure on federal spending, top FCC officials who usually go won’t this year. FCBA isn’t as lucky. None of the FCC staff will be attending its annual seminar this weekend in Hershey, Pa., because of timing issues and budget cutbacks, we are told.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
Among those who won’t be at CTIA: Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman, Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and Gary Epstein, head of the Incentive Auction Task Force, FCC officials said Thursday. In contrast, both Epstein and Media Bureau Chief Bill Lake were at the NAB show last month, also in Las Vegas. The sequester also affected NAB, though not as severely. Media Bureau Audio Division Chief Peter Doyle had to participate on a panel using Skype, since he couldn’t travel (CD April 11 p10). The CTIA show comes at a critical time for carriers, as the FCC develops rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum (See separate report in this issue).
Acting FCC Chair Mignon Clyburn is expected to speak Tuesday, though she is not listed as a speaker by CTIA at this point. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai are also expected to be at the show. Rosenworcel is slated to do the introduction on a panel Wednesday afternoon on “Spectrum Planning for the New Mobile World,” which includes her senior adviser David Goldman, officials said. Meanwhile, Pai is to speak at the start of a second Wednesday panel “Spectrum Incentive Auctions: Step Right Up!” His chief of staff Matthew Berry is on the panel. Rosenworcel is slated to speak starting at 1:30 p.m. PDT, and Pai starting at 3:15 p.m. PDT. All six eighth-floor officials are expected to make quick visits to Las Vegas. None of the key staffers is expected to join the discussions through a remote connection, a CTIA source said.
"It’s purely a budget issue,” an FCC official said. “The chairman’s office has said, ‘No one is allowed to go anywhere.'"