Wheeler to Address Criticism of His Lobbying Past
FCC Chairman nominee Tom Wheeler will seek to blunt criticism of his lobbying background in the telecom industry at Tuesday’s nomination hearing, according to a prepared copy of his remarks. He will tell lawmakers that his experience as the head lobbyist for NCTA and CTIA has taught him the importance of encouraging competition in the telecom market, his prepared testimony said. Wheeler is to testify at 2:30 p.m. in 253 Russell.
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Wheeler has already told members of the Senate Commerce Committee he believes the top three challenges facing the FCC are: (1) the successful implementation of the Public Safety Spectrum Act; (2) the transition from an analog switched circuit to an all-Internet Protocol network; and (3) “the opportunities presented for advancing civil society through evolving network technologies,” said a GOP memo. “The ongoing challenge of the FCC will be to encourage growth and development while at the same time assuring the delivery of the basic underpinning capabilities of the network that are essential to the people and key institutions,” Wheeler wrote in a committee questionnaire that was detailed in the memo.
Wheeler will tell the panel he’s an “unabashed supporter of competition” and believes the lessons from his business experience will make him a better chairman, according to his prepared remarks. “Competition is a power unto itself that must be encouraged,” Wheeler will say. “Competitive markets produce better outcomes than regulated or uncompetitive markets.” Wheeler has been attacked by some lawmakers and public interest groups for his extensive relationships and investments in companies that will have business before the FCC. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has repeatedly criticized Wheeler’s former work as a CTIA and NCTA lobbyist (CD April 10 p3). Wheeler was CEO of NCTA from 1979 to 1984 and president of CTIA from 1992 to 2004.
"I believe the role of the FCC has evolved from acting in the absence of competition to dictate the market, to promoting and protecting competition with appropriate oversight to see that it flourishes,” Wheeler will tell the panel. On his personal blog “Mobile Musings,” Wheeler advocated for using FCC authority to impose deal conditions or spectrum auction rules “that might seem to be regulation in another guise.” In the April 2011 blog entry (http://bit.ly/18b5fRr), Wheeler advocated FCC approval of AT&T’s plan to buy T-Mobile in return for new regulatory terms and conditions (CD May 1 p1). The comments have been criticized by the chairmen of the House Commerce Committee and its Communications Subcommittee, who said the perspective seems to advocate for using “closed door, strong-arm merger conditions” to affect change in the market (CD May 3 p11).
Consumer protection is an important role of the FCC, something at “the heart of the congressional instructions in the telecommunications Act,” Wheeler will say. Wheeler will also mention the importance of offering universal broadband service to all Americans and enhancing public safety and public services by leveraging access to technology. “The encouragement of innovation and investment across the entire economy, in rural and urban areas, as well as the availability of essential capabilities for citizens, is derivative of the capabilities of new networks,” Wheeler said in his answers to a committee questionnaire. “This is why continuing the implementation of the Connect America Fund is critical,” he wrote. “In addition, a robust and diverse media landscape is critical to the functioning of our society. ... I intend, if confirmed, to take seriously the commission’s responsibility in enabling a vibrant media landscape."
The Republican memo described Wheeler as “a longtime Obama loyalist” and detailed his past and current roles as an adviser and fundraiser for President Barack Obama. Wheeler was a fundraiser for Obama during both the 2008 and 2012 campaigns, netting nearly $360,000 for the president, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (http://bit.ly/I0lPIM). Wheeler and his wife Carol worked on Obama’s presidential campaign in Ames, Iowa, during 2008 and he led the Obama-Biden Transition Project’s Agency Review Working Group responsible for the science, technology, space and arts agencies in 2009. Wheeler has been on the president’s Intelligence Advisory Board since 2011.
The Republican memo detailed the extent to which Wheeler plans to avoid any conflicts of interest regarding his ownership of several technology and telecom companies as well as his investments in companies that have business before the FCC. Wheeler has said he plans to sell his shares in AT&T and Verizon valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars if confirmed (CD May 20 p1). Wheeler also plans to divest interests in nearly 80 technology, media and telecom companies within 90 days of his confirmation and recuse himself from any matters that may pose a potential conflict of interest if informed by FCC ethics officials.