Wheeler to Be Sworn In Monday as FCC Chairman

Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn will remain in that office through the end of the week. Wheeler spoke briefly by phone with Clyburn Tuesday night, officials said. Industry and agency sources said Clyburn’s top priority in the days ahead is likely completing unfinished business, such as rules implementing sections 204 and 205 of the 21st Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, an AM revitalization NPRM, a 3.5 GHz public notice and a rulemaking on Globalstar using its Mobile Satellite Service spectrum for terrestrial use. “There are items that have been adopted but not released yet and there are items that are close to adoption,” an FCC official said.

After being stalled for months, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., wasted little time pushing through a vote as soon Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, lifted his hold on Wheeler (CD Oct 30 p1) (see related report in this issue).

"What excites me about this new responsibility is how we are at a hinge moment of history; the Internet is the greatest communications revolution in the last 150 years,” Wheeler said in a statement. “We must all dedicate ourselves to encouraging its growth, expanding what it enables, and assuring its users’ rights are respected."

"Tom has no choice but to hit the ground running and his colleagues will have to keep pace,” said former Commissioner Robert McDowell, now a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute. “Tom and Mike won’t have the benefit of a transition period. I hope they rested up during the shutdown because the commission will have to work at warp speed to accomplish even just its ‘must-do’ list. For instance, in addition to constructing the most complex incentive auctions in world history, they will have to resolve other controversial matters such as spectrum aggregation, federal spectrum reallocation, media ownership and the UHF discount, universal service contribution reform, the effort to expand the E-rate entitlement, maybe ’son of net neutrality,’ not to mention inevitable surprises such as a controversial merger or two."

"In terms of sagacity and experience,” Wheeler “starts off in the top rank of all FCC chairs,” said former Chairman Reed Hundt, who headed the agency 1993-1997. “I didn’t know where the men’s room was located, and he knows pretty much everything going on in the sector.” There are “three things that every chair needs to do pretty much as soon as possible,” Hundt told us: First, Wheeler will make a statement about his goals at the FCC. Then he'll announce his new permanent team -- “I think he'll start making it clear who the new team is right away.” Wheeler has already got the experience, and likely knows who he wants, Hundt said. “Like it or not, the Senate gave him plenty of time to think about it.” Third, over time, the industry will see Wheeler’s “tactical priorities” he uses to accomplish his goals.

Agency chairs discover a few things right away, Hundt said. “You never knew you had so many friends,” he said. But “a lot of these friends seem to believe in private praise, and anonymous public criticism. … You have to grow thick skin.” When Hundt was chair, he noticed that “it’s pretty easy to have people say nice things to you, but it’s not so easy to have them tell you the truth.” It’s a tough time to go into government, Hundt said, citing an “extreme partisanship” and an “extreme disconnect from the top priorities of the country.” Hundt said he’s “extremely confident” of Wheeler’s ability to align the agency’s goals and the needs of the nation: “I think he can prove that public service is honorable, and you can accomplish a lot for the country."

"I don’t think there is any iron-clad process involved in these transitions,” said former acting Chairman Michael Copps, who warmed the seat for Chairman Julius Genachowski. There’s no standard operating procedure, and much of it depends on the management style of the incoming chairman, Copps told us. With his extensive management experience, Wheeler has probably decided what kinds of processes work well for him, Copps said: “I am sure Acting Chair Clyburn will make sure the bureaus have their briefings ready-to-receive as soon as the swearing in occurs, and that she will provide Tom with a comprehensive overview of the challenges ahead."

Copps also expects this transition to move faster than most, he said. “Because of the glacial pace of the confirmation process, Tom has had a lot of time to think about things, so I expect he will hit the ground running."

For former Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate, it was only a few days from confirmation to swearing in. “It was so quick that only my son in D.C. was there to hold the family bible to take the oath,” she told us. “I walked down the hall to my office -- which I had never seen before -- and met my staff who had been detailed from the various bureaus. Thankfully many of them stayed and became my permanent staff."

There was a “huge stack” of orders, NPRMs and items to be voted, “already on my desk,” Tate said. “Literally, we started work day one, hour two!” Tate couldn’t bring in her own staffers, since they were all in Tennessee, but Wheeler “probably has former staff from various former positions” that he might bring with him, she said. The bureau chiefs will be “critical in keeping the trains moving efficiently,” having had a few months to develop a list of pending items awaiting his confirmation, Tate said. “Chairman Wheeler is well versed in the ways of the FCC; much of the meet-and-greets won’t be necessary for him to spend time on,” she said, and he can quickly “get about the pending work of the Commission."

Everyone will be watching to see who Wheeler appoints to key positions at the FCC “and how that will show what the priorities are,” said Public Knowledge Senior Vice President Harold Feld. “You've got a couple of mergers pending, which will give some indication … what his issues and concerns are,” Feld said. “Does he care about the spectrum concentration stuff in AT&T[/]Leap? … On the media side is he going to care about media concentration at all? Is he going to care about retrans?"

"There is a pretty widespread expectation that Tom Wheeler is a take-charge kind of guy who will get his hands on the FCC’s wheels without much delay,” said Free State Foundation President Randolph May. “And part of taking charge means setting priorities and signaling to the FCC staff and to the outside world what those priorities are. I hope the priorities are focusing foremost on the incentive spectrum auction and on accelerating the transition to digital broadband networks. To be fair, it obviously takes a week or two to settle in. But, on the other hand, Wheeler knows full well what’s on the agency’s plate. It’s not like he’s been held in an isolation cell for the past six months."

"He’s had some time after the nomination to develop his plans and priorities, so it’s likely that within a couple of weeks, we'll know what he wants to tee up first,” said David Honig, president of the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council. “There are many long-pending items that he'll be compelled to wrap up quickly -- particularly the incentive auctions, management of the USF programs, and the media ownership 2010 and 2014 quadrennials. There is also a very thick backlog of issues relating to minority and women’s participation in media and telecom ownership, management and employment, as well as universal broadband access and adoption. Fortunately, Chairwoman Clyburn has made significant progress in working through this portfolio."

"Chairman Wheeler will need an opportunity to establish his team and do a status check on the agency, but his deep experience in the industry should help him hit the ground running,” said Fred Campbell, director of the Communications Liberty & Innovation Project at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. “Hopefully we'll have a sense of what his priorities are for the coming year relatively quickly. The need for FCC action on spectrum and regulatory modernization are critical to economic growth and consumer choice."

"Not only has he been waiting awhile to be confirmed, [Wheeler] has been thinking about these issues for decades and he sees them in terms of deep, historic patterns,” said Blair Levin, former FCC chief of staff, now at the Aspen Institute.

"One of the most immediate challenges facing the commission and its chairman is to attract enough broadcast volunteers to make the incentive auction a success and this coalition is committed to helping to make that happen,” said Preston Padden, head of the Expanding Opportunities for Broadcasters Coalition.

The GPS Innovation Alliance said in a statement that it expects Wheeler to bring his involvement in the communications industry “to the ongoing efforts to ensure the continued success and growth of the GPS industry.” The Satellite Industry Association said the leadership from Wheeler and O'Rielly “will ensure an active and engaged commission in the years ahead."

A radio attorney expressed concerns about the AM band revitalization NPRM previously unveiled by Clyburn (CD Sept 20 p11). The interesting issue is whether the current FCC will be able to release the NPRM “before Wheeler and O'Rielly formally take their seats, or whether Wheeler and O'Rielly will now have a voice in the AM NPRM,” said John Garziglia of Womble Carlyle. He said he’s unaware of either Wheeler or O'Rielly having any particular interest in AM band issues. “But, I know there are at least several broadcasters and one current FCC commissioner who would welcome the opportunity to inform them on the needs of our nation’s AM service.”