Lobbying Plans Rethought with Genachowski Confirmation Delayed
Companies and interest groups are rethinking their FCC lobbying strategies as the likelihood seems to grow that Michael Copps will remain the acting chairman well into the summer. Industry sources said Wednesday they're still looking for issues that could be addressed before Julius Genachowski’s nomination to become the chairman clears the Senate.
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Copps is unlikely to remain chairman as long as James Quello, who was the acting chairman 11 months at the start of the Clinton administration. But Genachowski’s nomination could be on ice as long as that of Reed Hundt. He was nominated to become chairman in June 1993, but didn’t take office until the end of November. House Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Jose Serrano, D- N.Y., warned Copps at a hearing Wednesday he could be in the job for awhile given the stalemate with the nominations process (see related note).
The Copps FCC has been moving on matters besides the DTV transition. At the May meeting, for example, the commission is scheduled to take up an order reducing the time limit for phone-number ports. Copps’ staff is reportedly looking at other consumer issues for commission action in the months ahead.
Regardless of who’s chairman, it will be a challenge for the FCC to do much before June 12, the deadline for full- power TV stations to complete the analog cutoff, said Curt Stamp, president of the Independent Telephone & Telecommunications Alliance. Even with the delay in getting a new chairman, the ITTA doesn’t expect the Copps FCC to advance big issues like USF or intercarrier compensation, he said. When Copps became acting chairman, there was hope he might tackle the easier aspects of overhauling universal service and intercarrier compensation, because there was general agreement on the matters last year among the three commissioners who remain at the agency, Stamp said.
The FCC appears to be setting up action on many matters by putting out notices of inquiry, Rebecca Arbogast, a Stifel Nicolaus analyst, said. “Companies will be working to shape the views of the incoming chairman by the positions they are crafting now.”
A wireless-industry lawyer said most companies are putting off any pushes until the new chairman arrives. “Now that it appears Copps is going to defer and let Genachowski - - and the other yet-to-be-nominated new FCC commissioners -- decide the issues pending before the FCC … Parties with business before the FCC aren’t engaging but rather are waiting for when their debates will take place in front of the actual decision makers.” Another wireless lawyer sees continuing pressure on the FCC to issue rulemaking notices or to complete orders that seem stalled. “Given the apparent success of some parties in raising the local number porting interval issue, for example, parties are likely to be looking for any other relatively discrete issues that might be teed up for a decision during Copps’ tenure as acting chairman,” the person said.
A satellite-industry source said the approaches that companies are taking before the FCC varies by issue. “If on a particular issue it makes sense to push to move ahead during Copps’ regime, I assume the proponents will push for it,” the person said. “But everyone I assume realizes that the timing of confirmations is a fluid thing, and hard to predict, so it would make sense for companies not to rely too much on one scenario or another that might change.”
Some wireline-industry sources said the delay in confirming Genachowski hadn’t affected their regulatory strategies. The Organization for the Promotion & Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies “started out the new administration with the assumption that it would be six months or more before a new chairman and confirmed commissioners would be in place to begin work on our issues,” a spokeswoman said. Those issues, which include revamping the USF and intercarrier compensation systems, “are not easy and quick issues that could be addressed by the acting chairman and two commissioners,” she said.
“There are a number of issues that the FCC should address -- before or after the new chairman arrives,” said a Verizon spokesman. He suggested the commission “continue to address unfinished business,” like taking exclusive jurisdiction over IP services and ensuring regulatory parity among phone, cable and other types of providers on number porting, marketing and other consumer issues.