A major changing of the guard has taken place at the Federal Communications Commission. Under the watch of former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, the commission struggled to deregulate the telecommunications industry as required under the monumental Telecommunications Act of 1996. While Congress has been a consistent critic of the agency's progress, US district courts have been even more unforgiving, consistently rejecting the FCC's implementation plans and sending the bureaucracy back to the drawing board.
With a new lineup of commissioners coming in, observers are eager to see whether the FCC can kick-start competition while avoiding further legal setbacks. Meanwhile, the agency is trying to come to terms with new technologies such as the Internet, which have the potential to dramatically alter the telecom landscape. During Hundt's tenure, the FCC consistently protected the Internet from undue regulation, but it remains to be seen whether the new commissioners will maintain that hands-off approach. ____
Chairman
William E. Kennard
As chief counsel for the FCC during the past four years, Kennard has been a staunch defender of the FCC orders implementing the Telecom Act. Kennard has said one of the difficulties is that Congress' intent is often "not particularly clear." A soft-spoken Washington insider, Kennard has none of Reed Hundt's panache. But members of Congress describe him as a master negotiator, and his staff says he is a quiet but fair leader. Guided by principles of "competition, community, and common sense," Kennard remains vague about what he would do differently from his predecessors. He supports the V-chip and says that the issue of broadcast standards for HDTV will be an important part of his tenure. Kennard also maintains that the FCC will continue to maintain a laissez-faire attitude toward the Internet. ____
Commissioner
Harold Furchtgott-Roth
For the past two years, Furchtgott-Roth's main task as chief economist for the House Commerce Committee was drafting the Telecommunications Act, which he now must write orders to implement. A defender of the complex congressional mandate who knows the act's provisions like the back of his hand, Furchtgott-Roth could help bridge the rift between the FCC and Congress, although he admits that many of the current disputes stem from the fact that the law is "purposely vague." Sometimes described as a libertarian, Furchtgott-Roth believes net cost to the consumer should outweigh any regulation. He wrote his economics PhD dissertation at Stanford University on the measurement of technological change and has published articles and books on cable television regulation, copyright law, the software industry, and the economic consequences of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. ____
Commissioner
Susan Ness
The last of the old guard still standing, Ness has been an FCC commissioner since 1994. She supports the V-chip and a voluntary ban on liquor advertising on television, and admits that the FCC has not kept up with technological change. A lawyer and formerly a senior lender to communications companies, Ness also did some time on Capitol Hill as assistant counsel to the Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing. As for the Internet, she says the FCC should "observe, support, but not interfere." As Ness puts it, "It would be easier to lasso Jell-O than to successfully apply traditional regulatory structures to the Internet." ____
Commissioner
Michael Powell
A charismatic figure with a famous father named Colin, the younger Powell brings expertise in mergers and monopolies that he acquired while serving as chief of staff at the US Justice Department's antitrust division. As telecom mergers continue to make headlines, many in Congress are beginning to wonder whether competition and deregulation can indeed coexist. Powell believes some mergers are good for the economy, but he says that others are "real evils of anticompetitive conduct." Powell has not been shy about criticizing the FCC on the Telecom Act implementation and on spectrum auctions. In particular, he told a congressional panel that the agency should have been more proactive in opening long-distance phone markets to competition and fostering technological innovation. As he told the panel at his confirmation hearing, "This post will be anything but peaceful." ____
Commissioner
Gloria Tristani
As former commissioner to the New Mexico State Corporation Commission, Tristani could help bridge the gap between the FCC and rural states. Among the most contentious aspects of the Telecom Act are the universal-service provisions, which seek to guarantee low phone rates for consumers in high-cost rural areas. While a self-described "Farm Team" of senators from rural states is clamoring for the FCC to prevent rural phone rates from skyrocketing, members of Congress from urban areas contend that their constituents should not be forced to subsidize rural service. The Farm Team hopes that Tristani will be sympathetic to its view, but little is known about her opinions on many issues facing the commission. Although she suggests that the Internet should not be saddled with undue regulations, she told Congress that "the issue of Internet telephony needs to be monitored."
This article originally appeared in the February issue of Wired magazine.
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