The Federal Communications Commission finally received official new leadership late Tuesday as the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of long-time telecommunications veteran Tom Wheeler as the new chairman of the FCC. Wheeler will replace Julius Genachowski who left the government agency in May.
Wheeler, who was named to head the agency just prior to Genachowski leaving, had his nomination held up first by the recent government shutdown, and then later by Senator Ted Cruz (R. Texas) who finally relented on his opposition. Cruz, who was a prominent figure on the Republican side during the government shutdown, said he was delaying a vote on the Wheeler nomination in order to garner more information on Wheeler’s view of the DISCLOSE Act. That act was designed to provide greater transparency into campaign financing.
“In our meeting this afternoon, Mr. Wheeler stated that he had heard the unambiguous message that trying to impose the requirements of the DISCLOSE Act, absent congressional action, would imperil the commission’s vital statutory responsibilities, and he explicitly stated that doing so was ‘not a priority,’” Cruz noted in a statement. “Based on those representations, I have lifted my hold on his nomination, and I look forward to working with him on the FCC to expand jobs and economic growth.”
In addition to heading up wireless trade association CTIA from 1992 to 2004, Wheeler is a long-time industry lobbyist and was a member of President Obama’s first-term transition team in 2009. More recently, Wheeler has been a managing director at venture capital firm Core Capital Partners. Wheeler was replaced at CTIA in 2004 by current president and CEO Steve Largent, who announced last week that he would leave that post by the end of next year.
While Wheeler was a charismatic leader at CTIA, he was not without his critics. Wheeler was criticized by some for his wanting to control information related to highly contentious mobile phone-cancer research conducted by the industry in the mid-90s, as well as his profiting from the sale of CTIA’s Cibernet subsidiary in 2002.
Along with the Wheeler approval, the Senate also approved the nomination of Michael O’Rielly as a Republican member of the FCC replacing former commissioner Robert McDowell.
Wheeler and O’Rielly will join current FCC Commissioners Ajit Pai (Republican, Jessica Rosenworcel (Democrat) and Mignon Clyburn (Democrat), who has served as acting chairwoman since Genachowski’s departure.
The FCC has a pretty full schedule of events on its agenda on top of its regular duties. The FCC has a trio of wireless spectrum auctions that are scheduled to be conducted next year, though most feel the 600 MHz incentive auction will likely be pushed back to at least early 2015. The FCC will also have to deal with a number merger and acquisition issues, including AT&T’s current attempt to acquire regional carrier Leap Wireless.
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