Kevin Martin assumed the chair of the Federal Communications Commission six and a half months ago in the throes of March Madness, a wonderfully wild and wacky time in sports that folks from his native North Carolina appreciate with religious fervor.
We’re in a different season now, but the craziness continues.
Martin’s FCC and Congress are trying to reconcile the disruptive technological world of today with the allusion of one proscribed by the ancient 1996 telecom act. The disorder created by Internet, wireless and other technologies-as well as the upheaval of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina-have prompted a serious rethinking about emergency communications in this country.
Martin’s predecessor, Michael Powell, put his stamp on telecom reform and homeland-security communications. Martin now has a chance to go far beyond the Powell legacy, a prospect the current FCC head might find deliciously attractive.
Before Hurricane Katrina, backwater broadband penetration in the United States was the bane of the Bush administration. After the storm, the nation learned-just as it did when terrorists struck Sept. 11, 2001, and nearly two decades earlier when Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge before plunging into the Potomac River-that public-safety communications in the world’s mightiest country are less than world class.
The White House largely has deferred communications leadership to the FCC, a strategy that has eroded the prestige and effectiveness of the president’s chief telecom policy advising body, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Indeed, President Bush waited until the last year of his first term-when re-election politics were in full gear-to grandly pronounce a U.S. broadband roadmap.
Meantime, the White House continues to sit on a much ballyhooed spectrum reform implementation plan due out months ago. No matter. Were the plan to languish another four months, no one would notice.
Martin has made strides on the broadband and public-safety fronts. Not everything is in his hands at the time being, however.
Congress must act to overhaul the telecom act, and once and for all extract from TV broadcasters 700 MHz spectrum owed to police, firefighters and medics around the country.
The FCC worked extra hours during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, giving licensees targeted regulatory relief where appropriate.
Martin is moving in fits and starts to guarantee Voice over Internet Protocol telephone service has predictable and reliable 911 capability. He can finish the job of past FCC chairmen by ensuring location-based enhanced wireless 911 service is available in urban and rural areas alike, particularly as wireless communications become more important to Americans.
It will not be a slam dunk for Martin. The challenges are daunting, but success is within his reach. Now is his time.
