President Barack Obama’s nominee for FCC chairman, Tom Wheeler, said last week he plans to sell his shares in AT&T and Verizon valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if confirmed, according to documents filed with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics (OGE). Wheeler said he also plans to divest his interests in nearly 80 technology, media and telecom companies within 90 days of his confirmation and recuse himself from any matters that may pose a potential conflict of interest if informed by FCC ethics officials. Wheeler, who was formerly president of CTIA and NCTA, has been attacked by some lawmakers and public interest groups for his extensive relationships and investments in companies he would likely regulate if confirmed as FCC chairman. The Senate Commerce Committee has not yet scheduled a confirmation hearing for Wheeler and a committee spokesman had no comment Friday as to when the hearing would take place.
Top minority members of the House Commerce Committee objected, in a letter sent to FCC commissioners Thursday, to a recent Republican letter urging the FCC to reject the Justice Department’s advice to implement spectrum aggregation rules or caps. Democrats said (http://1.usa.gov/16CnoJ1) the GOP letter is another example of Republicans seeking to “advance a one-sided re-interpretation of the goals and meaning” of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act in an “attempt to spin the legislative history in a way that inaccurately reflects the intent of Congress in adopting these provisions.” Top Republican members of the House Commerce Committee had previously told FCC commissioners that the Justice filing wasn’t consistent with the Spectrum Act and could lead to a failed auction (CD April 23 p1).
A recent filing by the Justice Department on spectrum and competition isn’t consistent with last year’s Spectrum Act, top Republican members of the House Commerce Committee said in a letter to FCC commissioners. If the commission adopts spectrum aggregation limits as part of incentive auction rules, it could doom the auction to failure, the legislators wrote.
The FCC Media Bureau granted 150 applications for new FM translator construction permits that were held up by the 2005 freeze placed on those applications from Auction 83 to allow the commission to figure out how to expand low-power FM service. The action put an end to the freeze, which was formally ended in last year’s fifth order on reconsideration, a bureau spokesperson said. Applicants who took advantage of the 2003 window for the translators have waited about 10 years for a decision on those applications. The bureau released a public notice Wednesday identifying almost 40 new translator stations that were granted (http://bit.ly/176n3vw).
The letter said Wheeler would be able to “hit the ground running” as chairman and listed his achievements in the private sector and as an advocate for the cable and wireless industries “when they were the insurgents challenging the established players.” Wheeler “has consistently fought on the side of increasing competition,” said the letter. “He understands the importance of reclaiming the pro-competition, pro-innovation, pro-growth regulatory ideal."
The letter said Wheeler would be able to “hit the ground running” as chairman and listed his achievements in the private sector and as an advocate for the cable and wireless industries “when they were the insurgents challenging the established players.” Wheeler “has consistently fought on the side of increasing competition,” said the letter. “He understands the importance of reclaiming the pro-competition, pro-innovation, pro-growth regulatory ideal."
Nearly a dozen former White House, FCC and Capitol Hill advisers wrote President Barack Obama Thursday endorsing Tom Wheeler to be the next FCC chairman (http://bit.ly/17tN754). The letter said Wheeler would be able to “hit the ground running” as chairman and listed his achievements in the private sector and as an advocate for the cable and wireless industries “when they were the insurgents challenging the established players.” Wheeler “has consistently fought on the side of increasing competition,” said the letter. “He understands the importance of reclaiming the pro-competition, pro-innovation, pro-growth regulatory ideal.” The letter’s signatories said Wheeler’s work on the digital TV transition makes them “confident that the focus and knowledge of spectrum issues that Tom brought to that undertaking will serve the Commission well once again in the execution of the upcoming auction of broadcast spectrum.” It was signed by Susan Crawford, former special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy; Phil Weiser, former senior adviser for technology and innovation; Sonal Shah, former director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation; Phil Verveer, former U.S. ambassador and deputy assistant secretary of state for international communications and information policy; Larry Irving, former NTIA administrator; Decker Anstrom, former U.S. ambassador and head of delegation for the 2012 World Radio Conference, as well as an ex-NCTA president; Terry Kramer, former U.S. ambassador and head of delegation for the World Conference on International Telecommunications; Andrew Schwartzman, former president of the Media Access Project; Kevin Werbach, former co-leader of the Obama-Biden transition team on the FCC; David Aylward, former chief counsel/staff director at the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee; and Paul de Sa, former chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning. Crawford confirmed the existence of the letter and said she had not yet received a response from the White House.
Nearly a dozen former White House, FCC and Capitol Hill advisers wrote President Barack Obama Thursday endorsing Tom Wheeler to be the next FCC chairman (http://bit.ly/17tN754). The letter said Wheeler would be able to “hit the ground running” as chairman and listed his achievements in the private sector and as an advocate for the cable and wireless industries “when they were the insurgents challenging the established players.” Wheeler “has consistently fought on the side of increasing competition,” said the letter. “He understands the importance of reclaiming the pro-competition, pro-innovation, pro-growth regulatory ideal.” The letter’s signatories said Wheeler’s work on the digital TV transition makes them “confident that the focus and knowledge of spectrum issues that Tom brought to that undertaking will serve the Commission well once again in the execution of the upcoming auction of broadcast spectrum.” It was signed by Susan Crawford, former special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy; Phil Weiser, former senior adviser for technology and innovation; Sonal Shah, former director of the White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation; Phil Verveer, former U.S. ambassador and deputy assistant secretary of state for international communications and information policy; Larry Irving, former NTIA administrator; Decker Anstrom, former U.S. ambassador and head of delegation for the 2012 World Radio Conference, as well as an ex-NCTA president; Terry Kramer, former U.S. ambassador and head of delegation for the World Conference on International Telecommunications; Andrew Schwartzman, former president of the Media Access Project; Kevin Werbach, former co-leader of the Obama-Biden transition team on the FCC; David Aylward, former chief counsel/staff director at the House Telecommunications and Finance Subcommittee; and Paul de Sa, former chief of the FCC’s Office of Strategic Planning. Crawford confirmed the existence of the letter and said she had not yet received a response from the White House.
One potential side effect of the pending change in leadership at the FCC is an almost inevitable slowdown in the development of rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, industry officials agree. The FCC has already been quiet in recent months on the auction, targeted for 2014, with no workshops on the agenda and comparatively little public outreach in recent months. Industry officials following the auction closely say in some cases they are already getting mixed signals from the Wireless and Media bureaus and the staff team overseeing the rules.
One potential side effect of the pending change in leadership at the FCC is an almost inevitable slowdown in the development of rules for an incentive auction of broadcast TV spectrum, industry officials agree. The FCC has already been quiet in recent months on the auction, targeted for 2014, with no workshops on the agenda and comparatively little public outreach in recent months. Industry officials following the auction closely say in some cases they are already getting mixed signals from the Wireless and Media bureaus and the staff team overseeing the rules.