Opening Day at the FCC: Perspectives, Challenges, and Opportunities

[Commentary] These are important days in determining the future of our networks and their effect on our commerce and our culture. As a history buff, I love John Gardner’s observation, “History doesn’t look like history when you’re living it.”

There is no doubt that today we are living history in the midst of the fourth great network revolution. Gutenberg’s printing press enabled the original information revolution; the railroad was the first high-speed network; and the instantaneous electronic transmissions of the telegraph opened the door to everything from broadcasting to the telephone. Each of these network revolutions redefined mankind’s path forward. What makes our revolution different from its predecessors, however, is the speed with which it has developed and the velocity with which it continues to evolve.

We’ll have more to say about the role of the FCC in the changing communications landscape in the coming weeks and months, I’m sure. Suffice it to say, that as networks change, those charged with the responsibility of overseeing those networks must also evolve. Congress instructed us to act in the “public interest, convenience and necessity.” I look forward to working with the Congress and to carrying out those instructions. This agency is a pro-competition agency. We stand for the things that are important regardless of the network technology being used: 1) To promote economic growth, 2) To maintain the historic compact between networks and users, and 3) To make networks work for everyone. Our challenge is to be as nimble as the innovators and network builders who are creating these great opportunities.