Oversight Of The Federal Communications Commission

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski has "tried to hit the ground running" on a reform agenda since taking office last summer, he told members of a House Commerce Subcommittee on Thursday.

Exclusive deals between mobile phone makers and carriers got support on Thursday from two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission, which is probing if the arrangements harm consumers in rural markets.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC's Chief Diversity Officer, Mark Lloyd, would be concentrating on broadband and would not be dealing with FCC broadcast license issues.

At Thursday's oversight hearing, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski committed to a deadline of no later than February 17,2009 to come up with "real options" on universal service reform and a plan for re-auctioning the D block of spectrum.

The House Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet plans to hold an oversight hearing of the Federal Communications Commission Thursday. The hearing will focus on progress of the national broadband plan.

Can you smell the fear? It's a fear that's laced with paranoia, stoked by misinformation and prejudice and fed to millions of people via powerful media. But most of all, it's a fear of the changes that an overwhelming majority of Americans called for when they stepped into voting booths last November.

More than 50 civil rights, public interest and grassroots organizations sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and congressional leaders supporting Mark Lloyd, the associate general counsel and chief diversity officer of the FCC, and the agency's longstanding mission to promote localism, diversity and competition in the media.

Congress and the public will learn a lot about the Federal Communications Commission tomorrow. The principles at stake are an open Internet (Network Neutrality), localism and diversity.

The House Communications Subcommittee confirms that it will hold an Federal Communications Commission oversight hearing September 17 at 10 a.m. All five commissioners have been invited and are expected to be in attendance.