Major telecom policy players endorsed 2016 presidential candidates with their pocketbooks this summer. The lion’s share of top executives leaned toward establishment candidates: Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, and Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor who has polled strongly among GOP contenders. Clinton in particular was flooded with donations from executives from Comcast, Dish and Verizon and from senior aides to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler himself, according to the latest campaign records released to the Federal Election Commission. Several industry observers told us to expect less telecom change if Clinton wins the White House.
Former FCC chairmen battled over net neutrality and broadband reclassification along partisan lines on a panel Wednesday at the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council's Access to Capital and Telecom Policy Conference. Democrat Reed Hundt said the FCC should be focused on addressing income inequality, and while some of the ways to do that involved selling spectrum in blocks that are affordable and imposing spectrum caps, another was through net neutrality because it protected Internet entrepreneurs seeking to reach customers over broadband Internet systems. Net neutrality created a level playing field “because this platform called the Internet should be shared by everybody,” said Hundt, who is founder and CEO of Coalition for Green Capital.
Wiley Rein hires Richard Feasey, ex-Vodafone, as senior international policy adviser, Telecom, Media & Technology Group ... Polycom hires Christopher Jones, ex-Avaya, as president, Polycom Americas, effective Aug. 3 ... Brightcove promotes Andrew Feinberg to president-international operations, and David Plotkin to general counsel, succeeding Feinberg; Senior Vice President-Worldwide Operations Paul Goetz leaving at month's end to pursue other interests ... Windows 10 devices to be theme of IFA Show keynote by Nick Parker, Microsoft corporate vice president-OEM Division, Sept. 4, 3 p.m., CityCube event hall, Messe Berlin fairgrounds ... Lobbyist registration: News Corp., Palladian Hill Strategies, effective July 1.
Somewhat the way the FCC was flooded with public comments regarding net neutrality, a collection of communications companies, trade organizations and advocacy groups is hoping to get similar public support -- if not the volume -- as they lobby regarding a variety of broadband-centric matters before the FCC. "You don't have to get net neutrality-type numbers," said Harold Feld, senior vice president at Public Knowledge, one of the participants in a new campaign, dubbed "Competify." "If you have a large number of customers … file saying, 'There's not a lot of competition,' that’s something a chairman of the FCC can point to to say 'Look, I'm not making this up.'"
Senior FCC officials kept their eyes locked on Capitol Hill in recent months as lawmakers debated net neutrality legislation, internal emails obtained from the agency through a Communications Daily Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request showed. FCC officials stayed in touch with Democratic staffers from the Senate Commerce Committee, the office of Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and NTIA. Some former FCC officials told us such close tracking and back-channel communication is a natural part of how the agency functions.
Wheeler FCC Will Have To Move Quickly if DC Circuit Sides With Net Neutrality Opponents, Lawyers Say
The evolving conventional wisdom is that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit probably will hear the net neutrality appeal at the end of this year or in early 2016, industry lawyers said. But a January oral argument would mean a decision by the court several months later and little time for the current administration to address any problems the court might find with the order, including a potential remand.
A change to the way the FCC counts the population served for one New York station could mean reduced prices for every broadcaster in the incentive auction, said the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition in filings in docket 12-268 posted online Monday. “The Commission must account for a market anomaly that, if left unchanged, will slash $8.3 billion from broadcaster opening prices nationwide,” said the EOBC filing. The price drop is a result of a change to how the FCC counts the population served by station WABC-TV in New York City. Pricing estimates in the FCC-issued Greenhill auction information book list WABC-TV as possessing the most valuable spectrum in the incentive auction at $900 million dollars, and WABC's price was used to calculate the value of all the other broadcast stations eligible for the auction, according to FCC officials. Since the price calculation is based in part on population served, altering that figure for WABC-TV trickles down to every station, resulting in a 2.3 percent drop for each station, EOBC said.
Senior FCC officials sprang into action to prepare Chairman Tom Wheeler for the bevy of Capitol Hill net neutrality hearings earlier this year, according to internal agency emails supplied in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that Communications Daily filed. Congressional scrutiny of the FCC spiked after the February approval of the agency’s open Internet order, prompting five hearings in March and two more since. The Wheeler aides embraced an all-hands-on-deck strategy to brief Wheeler on key topics and stay ready to respond in real time when Wheeler was in the hearing room.
FCC hires Mike Dabbs, ex-Applied Materials, as director-Office of Legislative Affairs, a job Deputy Director Andrew Woelfling had done on an acting basis, and promotes Linda Oliver to chief, General Counsel's Office Administrative Law Division ... Google confirms it hired Riva Litman, leaving office of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., to work in its Washington office; position not disclosed ... Barnes & Noble hires Ron Boire, ex-Sears Canada, as CEO of its retail business, effective Sept. 8, replacing Michael Huseby, who will become executive chairman, Barnes & Noble Education, as part of previously announced plan to spin off the company’s college and retail businesses into two separate publicly traded companies ... Yonder, outdoor recreational mobile app developer, promotes David Tyler to CEO, replacing David Roberts, who will remain chairman.
Kelley Drye promotions to partner include: Joshua Guyan in Communications practice group, and Dustin Painter, Government Relations and Public Policy; and to special counsel Audrey Jing Faber, Litigation, representing entertainment companies and broadcasters, Denise Smith, Communications, and Kristi Wolff, Advertising and Marketing, working on issues including wearable technology and privacy ... Trustworthy Accountability Group names Mike Zaneis permanent president-CEO; once the Interactive Advertising Bureau, where he's general counsel/executive vice president-public policy, finds a replacement, he will work at TAG full time ... Harris Wiltshire hires John Hodges, ex-Wiley Rein, as counsel, energy practice, and he has worked on international trade, advertising and other issues.