When does the chief of the Federal Communications Commission cease to be “the new FCC chairman?”
Given the plentiful policy complexities in this era of technological disruption and political-financial import of the job in this 24/7 news cycle era, one might answer March 18-the day President Bush promoted then-Commissioner Kevin Martin to the post to succeed Michael Powell. Because on that day hundreds of billions of dollars suddenly began to ride on every utterance, facial expression and policy nuance emanating from the Martin camp.
These days, a mere three months as FCC chairman can be like a lifetime. It’s one tough job.
Depending on whom you talk to, the tight-lipped Martin is either balling things up at the agency as he obsessively reviews policies of a predecessor with whom he fought on occasion or he is judiciously teeing important telecom initiatives even if hasn’t articulated a grand plan that bears his name. Which one is it? Could it be some of both?
It is an admittedly long-winded way of asking where Martin is headed on the wireless front.
Communications lawyers are among those grumbling about the Martin transition, understandable considering they have big clients with big egos paying them big bucks to get decisions to their liking and applications approved as expeditiously as possible.
The grumblers see Martin cut from the same ideological and management cloth of the White House for which he lawyered during the campaign. When Martin says he wants to create a regulatory climate for broader broadband deployment, he gives grumblers credibility. It’s no secret that Martin’s wife, Catherine, is deputy assistant to the president and deputy communications director for policy and planning. But so what? Power couples are as common around here as summer humidity.
Others are more generous in assessing the Martin transition, painting a far different picture of the influential one with the boyish Southern charm. I’m told Martin is making an effort to personally meet FCC staff and generally trying to be more accessible than the gregariously reclusive Powell. Another points out Martin already has committed the agency to tackling universal service reform and inter-carrier compensation, while putting the finishing touches on mobile-phone hearing-aid compatibility. In addition, as noted previously on this page, Martin has shown leadership on trying to do 911 VoIP right.
But how will Martin come down in terms of divvying up spectrum between licensed and unlicensed wireless services? What in the Powell Spectrum Policy Task Force will Martin retain or discard? The task force and its recommendations caused more than a little heartburn to a mobile-phone industry that has spent billions of dollars on wireless licenses and network infrastructure. On the other hand, Wi-Fi, WiMax and other unlicensed wireless technologies could prove key in helping Bush see through his 2007 populist broadband goal.
The backdrop to all this is an FCC and telecom reform generally in a very unsettled state, with a GOP-controlled Congress that’s letting it be known by the day it considers Bush a lame-duck president. It could make an already challenging FCC job even more difficult.
