Antitrust Expert Turetsky Named FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski named David Turetsky, a communications lawyer at Dewey & LeBoeuf, as new chief of the Public Safety Bureau. The appointment is effective after Memorial Day. Acting Chief David Furth will return to duty as a deputy chief of the bureau. Turetsky becomes the second chief under Genachowski, following his initial appointment of retired Rear Adm. Jamie Barnett, who left the agency at the end of April.
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The appointment comes at a key time for public safety, as the FCC, working with NTIA, will have to put in place FirstNet, a new national wireless network for first responders. Work is also underway on moving 911 to a next-generation system, with key policy calls remaining. More immediately, the FCC will have to decide what to do about the local governments that received early waivers to build early systems in the 700 MHz band. Also pending is next year’s narrowbanding deadline.
Like Barnett, Turetsky does not have law enforcement experience. Turetsky was formerly deputy assistant attorney general for antitrust at the Justice Department. He also spent time as a senior lawyer and officer for Teligent, a fixed-wireless communications and broadband services company. He is best known as an expert on antitrust issues. Former FCC Chairman Kevin Martin took more than six months to name the first chief of the newly created bureau in February 2007, picking former University of North Carolina Police Chief Derek Poarch.
Genachowski cited Turetsky’s “stellar talent and broad experience in and out of government,” in announcing the appointment Monday. Brian Fontes, CEO of the National Emergency Number Association, and Harlin McEwen, chairman of the Communications and Technology Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said they look forward to working with the new bureau chief.
Also Monday, the FCC Wireless and Public Safety bureaus sought comment on the New York City Transit Authority’s Dec. 22 request for a waiver of the commission’s Jan. 1, 2013, narrowbanding deadline. The New York authority sought a 42-month extension with respect to the equipment deployed on its subway system. The FCC asked in particular for comment from “parties whose operations could be impacted by grant of the waiver,” (http://xrl.us/bm8r8i). Comments are due June 11, replies June 21.
The Wireless Bureau, meanwhile, granted Delta Air Lines a waiver of the deadline until Dec. 31, 2013, for some 200 private land mobile radio stations it uses in its system. “Based on the record before us, we conclude that Delta has presented sufficient facts to meet the high standard for grant of the requested waiver,” the bureau said in an order (http://xrl.us/bm8svt). “Delta’s radio system covers airports nationwide. The complexity of the system is increased by its lack of concentration in one geographic area, and the facilities’ location in secure airport areas that require special clearance and escort for technical personnel.”