Congressional telecom staffers bring long experience to table as the 111th Congress gets underway at a time when communications issues are a growing priority. The Senate and House Commerce Committees have new leadership for the full committee and communications subcommittees, with the Senate subcommittee reconvening after a hiatus of three years. Changes at the top level of the Commerce Committees, as well as new committee members, mean some changes in titles among key staffers. But most of those involve staffers who are often familiar to the telecom and media industries.
Former House Commerce Committee member Jim Slattery returns to Wiley Rein to lead its Public Policy Group… Optimum Lightpath names John Macario, ex-Savatar, senior vice president, product strategy and management… Arris promotes Dan Whalen to senior vice president, sales…Rob Williams, ex-Clear Channel, and Drew Hilles, ex-Google, launch Goom Radio Internet radio service as CEO and chief sales officer, respectively… George Kliavkoff, ex-Hulu.com, becomes Hearst Corp. executive vice president, entertainment and syndication.
The FCC should “take a good hard look” at its mission statement, Acting Chairman Michael Copps said Tuesday at the FCBA summit on the 75th anniversary of the Communications Act and the agency. The commission has sometimes “strayed pretty far” from serving the public interest, he said. “Too often we spend our days refereeing disputes between powerful interests, with consumers and other non-traditional stakeholders pretty much left outside the loop of discussion and decision.”
The FCC should keep an “open mind” on spectrum allocation because the U.S. has parceled out frequencies less efficiently many other countries, said EchoStar Chairman Charles Ergen. He said Tuesday he’s “excited” about getting new FCC members because that leads to “new ideas.” Broadcasters may use too much spectrum, he said, and TV stations and cable networks are becoming more readily available a la carte online.
David Gross, ex-U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, joins Wiley Rein as partner March 16… Jennifer Manner, ex-Skyterra, joins Entertainment Software Association as senior vice president, government affairs… Rob Wilk, ex-Yahoo, becomes vice president, ad sales, for mobile search service ChaCha… Cox promotes Raj Beri to vice president, wireless product operations; Dane Dickie, ex Hughes Telematics, becomes director, wireless product development… Verizon promotes Fran Shammo to president, Verizon Business, March 1, succeeding John Killian, moving up to chief financial officer… New executive committee members of Information Technology Sector Coordinating Council: Franck Journoud, Business Software Alliance; Tiffany Jones, Symantec, also elected treasurer. Re-elected officers: Robert Dix, Juniper Networks, chairman; Cheri McGuire, Microsoft, vice chairman; Liesyl Franz, ITAA, secretary.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, Tuesday welcomed the expected nomination of Julius Genachowski to become the chairman of the FCC. The nomination of the Obama campaign insider is expected to be announced Wednesday or Thursday, probably with that of a federal chief technology officer, said a person familiar with transition planning. Genachowski “has the experience and credentials to successfully reinvigorate the FCC as Chair,” Rockefeller said.
Upped to partners at Wiley Rein: Jessica Rosenthal, handling broadcast transactions; Robert Scheffel, in intellectual property practice; New of counsel: Robert Benton, international telecommunications and environment & safety groups.
Brad Weinert resigned as president of Novatel Wireless… NBCU Media Distribution Services promotes Matthew Braatz to senior vice president, broadcast operations… Former FCC Commissioner Tyrone Brown returns to Wiley Rein… Jay Bilden, ex-Qwest, becomes ERF Wireless senior vice president, engineering and network operations… New ATIS officers: Chairman John Donovan, AT&T; First Vice Chairman Nick Adamo, Cisco; Second Vice Chairman Mark Wegleitner, Verizon; Secretary Matt Bross, BT; Treasurer Harold Braun, Harris Stratex Networks… SureWest promotes Matt Zuschlag to executive director, enterprise initiatives… New Fiber-to- the-Home Council board members: Leonard Ray, Cisco; Patrick Sims, ADC Telecommunications; David Russell, Calix.
Belo executives asked three FCC members to hold off on some localism rules, said a Thursday ex parte filing on meetings with Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein, Michael Copps and Robert McDowell. The commission should “avoid unnecessary regulation in this area,” the company said. Participants also discussed the adoption of a so-called quiet period in which broadcasters wouldn’t pull their signals from pay-TV companies around the time of the digital transition. Former FCC Chairman Richard Wiley and Belo CEO Dunia Shive attended.
As the new administration jells, changes are said to be occurring to the roster of those advising President-elect Barack Obama (CD Nov 12 p1) on who to pick for key agency posts. Among recent changes is said to be the apparent departure of broadcast lawyer Henry Rivera, a former FCC member, from a lead role in commission transition planning efforts, according to about a dozen media and telecom lawyers observing the transition. Transition team members themselves are forbidden to discuss any personnel moves.