Telecom Law Monitor : Washington D.C. Telecom Lawyer & Attorney : Kelley Drye & Warren Law Firm : New York, Chicago, Connecticut, New Jersey, Brussels

Six months after Obama took office, it seems that the FCC is almost, finally ready to get moving.  The Mignon Clyburn (D) and Meredith Baker (R) nominations were approved by the Senate this week.  With these confirmations, we will have the full five-member Commission in place for the August 27 open meeting. 

In addition, Chairman Genachowski continues to designate his Bureau and senior staff.  Yesterday, Genachowski announced two appointments relevant to the scope of this blog.  First, in the Wireline Competition Bureau, Genachowski announced that Sharon Gillett will become Chief of the Bureau.  Ms. Gillett is Director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute and previously served as head of the Massachusetts equivalent to the FCC and worked as a professor at M.I.T.  The announcement notes her academic work maintained "a particular focus on broadband."  Clearly, at least in the short term, this Commission's number 1 goal (and goals numbered 2, 3 and 4) is going to be broadband deployment.   Ms. Gillett will take office on August 28.

In the Enforcement Bureau, Genachowski announced that Suzanne Tetreault will become Deputy Chief of the Enforcement Bureau.  Ms. Tetreault has served in a variety of positions in the Wireline Competition Bureau, Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau and the Office of General Counsel.  Kris Monteith, the current Bureau Chief, will become Deputy Chief of the Media Bureau, effective August 10.  At that point, Ms. Tetreault will become Acting Chief of the Bureau.  The designation of Ms. Tetreault as an Acting Chief signals that Genachowski intends to fill the Enforcement Bureau Chief slot with a person not currently employed by the Commission.  I would expect that announcement fairly soon.

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Julius Genachowski became the Chairman of the FCC on June 29. Mr. Genachowski began announcing his staff the same day. His Chief of Staff is Ed Lazarus, most recently a lawyer in private practice in the Washington, D.C. office of the firm of Akin Gump. Like Chairman Genachowski, Mr. Lazarus served as a clerk for the U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Blackmun). In addition, the Chairman’s office announced two senior advisors and two legal advisors.

Colin Crowell will hold the title Senior Counselor to the Chairman. Mr. Crowell has spent more than 20 years working on telecommunications issues as a Congressional staff member for Congressman Ed Markey and the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications.

The other senior advisor is Bruce Gottlieb, who will serve as Chief Counsel to the Chairman. Mr. Gottlieb spent the prior three years as an advisor to FCC Commissioner Copps and, before that, was in private law practice in D.C. with the firm of Harris Wiltshire.

Priya Aiyar will hold the title of Legal Advisor focusing on wireline competition and international issues. She was most recently in private practice with the D.C. firm of Kellogg Huber. Ms. Aiyar also served as a Supreme Court clerk (Justice Breyer) and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sherrese Smith will be the Legal Advisor for media, consumer and enforcement issues. Ms. Smith most recently was Vice President and General Counsel of Washington Post Digital and, before that, practiced law with the D.C. firm of Arnold and Porter.

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Changes at the FCC moved one step closer to fruition this week. On March 25, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee confirmed that the White House has transmitted the nomination of Julius Genachowski to be Chairman of the FCC. No word yet on when the Senate will conduct confirmation hearings.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, whose term had expired in 2008, has been nominated to head the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) within the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The RUS oversees grants and loans to support rural broadband service, and will have the responsibility to distribute $2.5 billion in stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Commissioner Adelstein has a history of supporting service in rural America.

We can think of no one better equipped to run the RUS in this important time for the entity.
 

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The “Obama FCC” took one giant step toward reality today when President Obama formally announced his “intention to nominate” Julius Genachowski as Chairman of the FCC. Genachowski’s nomination has been expected for some time, but apparently was delayed when President Obama revamped his process for vetting candidates after several high-profile withdrawals by key nominees.

Genachowski comes with stellar credentials including two Supreme Court clerkships, a prior stint as advisor to FCC Chairman Reed Hundt and several years at Barry Diller’s Internet company, IAC. Virtually every telecom organization took turns today praising the incoming chairman.

Genachowski is expected to further President Obama’s policies to promote broadband deployment and net neutrality. Genachowski’s nomination must be approved by the Senate, so he may not formally take office for a few months.
 

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