Chairman Wheeler Lays Into FCC IT System at Hill Hearing

Testifying before the Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said he needs the budget the FCC has asked for -- about a $36 million, or 10% increase -- to get things done. He was pressed on what he needed the money for and what the consequences would be if he didn't get it. That included why he did not ask for fewer new full-time employees (FTEs) so he could put more money into updating an FCC IT system Chairman Wheeler said was unacceptable and insecure.

He would like to split the baby, but needed money for both IT upgrades and extra people to, among other things, better police a Universal Service Reform system he said needed major overhaul and oversight. He minced no words about the state of the USF Lifeline subsidy. Chairman Wheeler had plenty of reasons for investing $13.5 million to upgrade the IT system. His frustration was palpable. "We must, simply cannot go on this way," he said. He suggested it was an embarrassment for the agency that oversees networks to have an inefficient and insecure IT infrastructure, 40% of which is more than 10 years old and not even supported by vendors. He called it a hodgepodge of incompatible and inefficient equipment, a situation that a business in the private sector would never tolerate -- he has run, bought and sold such businesses.