GOP Seeks Spectrum-Focused Leadership at FCC

Also on Friday, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell spoke with Senate Republicans at the Capitol about “the next steps for the FCC,” he told us as he rode the Capitol subway to the Dirksen building. He declined to endorse any candidates to replace him at the commission, saying: “There are a lot of good names out there. I'm not going to comment on any specific names.” House Commerce Committee aide Ray Baum, a former chairman of the Oregon Public Utility Commission, and longtime congressional aide Michael O'Rielly, who now works for Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, are frontrunners for the Republican slot on the commission, industry officials said.

Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member John Thune, R-S.C., said in an interview at the Capitol that he would prefer commissioners “who are qualified [and] who understand the importance of the agency and will work very hard to make sure that it issues good judgments and keep us very competitive in the field of telecom, media, wireless and all the items on their agenda. … They are important to the future of the country and our ability, frankly, to stay competitive in the world.” Thune would not say which Republican candidate he would endorse to replace McDowell but said both Baum and O'Rielly are “people who will probably pass the threshold.” “Frankly, we haven’t talked a lot about that yet. I'm sure there are others out there who are just as good. And there will be a process that they will go through at some point.” Thune said he and his Republican colleagues had recently discussed the need to reauthorize the agency’s mandate: “It’s been a long time since that happened.” Lawmakers are interested in looking at some of the FCC’s processes and “see if there are some ways that they can be modernized and updated to be more efficient and timely,” he said.

Senate Commerce Committee member Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in an interview he’s looking for an FCC chairman who understands the challenges of regulating the modern telecom marketplace. First, the president’s nominee must be “clearly on the side of freedom for the Internet. That should be the official policy of the United States. And second, I think you have a technology industry, particularly telecommunications, that is evolving so rapidly that I fear the government structures can’t evolve fast enough to keep pace with the fastest developing industry in human history.” Rubio said it may be time to take a broader look and reexamine the role of the FCC: “You have a 20th-century government structure that’s trying to regulate a 21st-century industry. I think it’s a mistake to try to treat these new companies and these new innovations as a utility. I think there is value in governmental involvement in these things to discuss that,” he said.

Senate Commerce member Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., told us that freeing up more spectrum for commercial use is “going to be an issue no matter who is on the commission. Also I have a lot of issues I'd like to see [addressed] with the Universal Service Fund,” she said. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., told us the chairman’s announcement came “just a little earlier than what I expected.” Moran, who is on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said he hopes that whomever becomes the next FCC chairman recognizes the importance of “creating greater opportunities for spectrum,” during an interview at the Capitol. “The spectrum issue is probably one of the most important for our country, so as the new FCC develops I hope it is an FCC that understands the importance of doing that.”

Senate Democrats kept mum on which candidate they preferred to replace Genachowski, and instead heaped praise on the work of the outgoing chairman. Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Genachowski has been a “key part of the Obama Administration’s efforts to move our economy forward, spur innovation and make sure all Americans have opportunities to participate in the digital economy,” according to a statement sent via a committee spokesman. “I wish Julius Genachowski the very best in his next endeavor, and I look forward to working with him in the days ahead to make sure that every child, through the E-Rate program, has access to the transformative power of technology.”

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., said during an interview at the Capitol he thought Genachowski did a “good job” and said he’s looking forward to working with the FCC and the administration to “get the right people in place there.” Senate Commerce member Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in a news release Friday Genachowski has worked “tirelessly to modernize our nation’s communications infrastructure and help make sure every American has access to the critical technology they need to succeed in the 21st century.” “I have worked closely with the Chairman on a number of issues to expand consumer access to the Internet, improve rural phone service, and advance consumer rights in the communications marketplace,” she said.

House Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman, D-Calif., called Genachowski a “brilliant” FCC chairman that has “transformed and energized” the agency. “Under his leadership, the FCC protected consumer access to the free and open Internet, preserved and expanded wireless competition, and reformed the broken universal service and inter-carrier compensation system. He successfully championed legislation in Congress to address the nation’s spectrum shortage by authorizing the world’s first incentive auctions.” House Communications Subcommittee Ranking Member Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said Genachowski broke “new ground” at the commission and “implemented the kind of long-term growth initiatives America’s telecommunications sector needs to compete in the digital age.”

Visiting Harvard Law School Prof. Susan Crawford said in a phone interview Friday the next chairman should be someone who will “make plain to the highly concentrated U.S. communications industry that there is a new cop on the beat.” Crawford, a former Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers board member and special assistant to Obama for science, technology and innovation policy, had earlier been cited by industry officials as a potential candidate to replace Genachowski. “It is going to be important to have someone … who understands the history of communications policy and who is able to move the pieces around on the board. Someone who has great strength of will, is fearless and needs no further job in the industry,” she said. “I think at this point we need a [New York City Mayor] Mike Bloomberg force at the FCC, someone who is afraid of no one and has no need to endear himself or herself to these giant players.” Crawford said she trusts Wheeler, and if he becomes chairman “he would have an open mind and an intelligent take on the trough in which the country finds itself,” she said.

Wheeler, who is chairman of the FCC Technological Advisory Council, was cited by multiple industry members in separate interviews as the likely nominee. Obama previously tapped Wheeler for the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group and as a member of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. Wheeler is director of Core Capital Partners, a venture capital firm. Wireless and cable companies will likely be amenable to Wheeler’s background, said a recent report authored by Stifel Nicolaus analysts David Kaut and Christopher King, “but we also suspect he would be under pressure to demonstrate independence, making it harder for him to show favoritism,” the report said. Wheeler did not respond to our request for comment.

Also being considered for the post is Larry Strickling, NTIA administrator and a veteran of the 2008 Obama campaign, industry officials said. Like Genachowski and Obama, Strickling is a Harvard Law School graduate and was a policy coordinator for Obama for America during the 2008 campaign. Strickling did not comment. Karen Kornbluh, ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, could also be tapped, industry officials and Hill aides said. Kornbluh was an adviser to Obama during the 2008 campaign and an aide to Obama when he was U.S. senator from Illinois. Kornbluh did not comment.