Misunderestimating Mignon Clyburn

Before Mignon Clyburn joined the Federal Communications Commission last July, she hadn't spent more than two weeks in a row outside of her native South Carolina. But that didn't stop some in Washington from thinking they had her figured out. Because she is the daughter of House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and a long-time public utilities commissioner in the state capital of Columbia, lobbyists and a few public interest advocates speculated she'd favor the Bell companies on policy decisions. They said she had a steep learning curve and suspected her seat at the FCC was a political stepping stone. Commissioner Clyburn, 47, admits she has a lot to learn on the complexities of telecommunications and high-tech policy. But so far, she's proven her critics wrong on one crucial vote on net neutrality. And above everything, she wants people to know that she's not to be underestimated. There is much at stake and her true test will be on details of the net neutrality proposal and on the issues she will champion during her tenure. She's a crucial third Democratic vote in a five-member agency that's at the center of vexing regulatory decisions that will set the course on how consumers use the Web. Yet the true weight of any final rules will lie in crucial details. To what degree will wireless service providers be treated differently? How will the FCC define traffic management that prevents anticompetitive practices? How will the agency treat managed services, such as dedicated and secure bandwidth for telemedicine or video services? And will the rules extend beyond carriers to include content companies such as Google? It's unclear how Clyburn will vote on those narrow pieces of the policy. She's expressed strong support for FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, but telecom industry executives are searching for clues to her thinking on specific slices of the controversial debate.