May 2013

A longtime Washington DC insider, Tom Wheeler has spent the better part of his career lobbying for big business.

Starting at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Wheeler later became president of the National Cable Television Association, fighting for legislation on behalf of cable companies in the industry’s formative 1980s. After briefly leaving to start a couple companies focused on broadband and cellular — experiences that would clearly inform his role as an Federal Communications Commission chairman — Wheeler was once again pulled into the beltway, becoming the head of The Wireless Association (CTIA) for over a decade. But Wheeler left CTIA in 2004. As a policymaker, can he be even-keeled without putting unbalanced weight in favor of industry giants — the kinds of giants who wanted a T-Mobile-AT&T merger?

"He has money and he's old," one industry source told The Verge, suggesting that Wheeler is effectively a lame duck — he has nothing to prove, no company or industry to make happy enough to secure a lucrative job in his post-FCC life. That might work out to the consumer’s advantage. It’s also worth noting that Wheeler’s stint in the cable industry came before it was huge, incumbent, slow-moving, often hostile toward its subscribers, and at constant risk of endangering competition.

Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released its Broadband Adoption Toolkit, a document aimed at sharing best practices developed from broadband adoption and digital literacy projects funded by the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP).

Leveraging the experience of about 100 communities served by BTOP to benefit the entire nation, the Toolkit gives practical ideas and tools for overcoming barriers to getting more Americans online access. Since its creation, BTOP funded $452 million in grants to cities, libraries, nonprofit organizations, colleges and other groups for projects to teach Americans the digital literacy skills they need to be competitive in the 21st century economy, and to promote the benefits of and provide access to high-speed Internet through public computer centers.

“We developed the toolkit in order to share the expert knowledge and experience of the broadband adoption and computer training projects with a broader base of anchor institutions, government agencies, non-profits and others engaged in this effort,” said Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information and NTIA Administrator Lawrence E. Strickling in a speech at the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband Coalition’s spring conference. “Our projects reached only a small percentage of the nation’s households, but we want the lessons learned to be available to everyone. And we hope that as the grant program winds down, this toolkit will serve as a legacy and foundation for others to build on as they continue this vital digital inclusion effort.”

NTIA collected many of the best practices developed by BTOP grantees to create the Broadband Adoption Toolkit. This report gives guidance to communities and organizations across the country on how to structure the most effective broadband training programs, set up the most productive computing centers and teach people to use technology to improve their lives. The 68-page publication includes chapters on program planning, outreach, training and curriculum with many practical ideas and tools for bringing new groups online. NTIA utilized the contributions of nearly 40 programs in the toolkit.

Key messages and guidance in the toolkit include the following:

• Make digital literacy programs relevant by teaching skills that can change people’s daily lives, such as how to apply and search for a job online.
• Partner with established community organizations that people know and trust to help engage hard-to-reach populations.
• Provide convenient times and locations for broadband training and computer use to ensure easy access.
• Address the cost of broadband adoption by providing access to discounted computer equipment and/or affordable broadband service.

The toolkit also provides specific examples from BTOP recipients describing the strategies and practices that worked best for their broadband adoption programs. For example, the City of Boston worked with a local organization, Technology Goes Home, to teach participants how using the Internet can save them money, for instance, by cutting out the cost of cashing checks through online banking.

About one-quarter of all Verizon Communications shareholder votes were cast in favor of a proposal that asks the company to report on business risks from Verizon’s controversial FCC lawsuit and other actions to oppose open Internet and network neutrality principles. The preliminary vote of 24.1% in favor of the net neutrality proposal was reported at Verizon’s May 2 annual meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This represents a three-fold increase in support from a similar action filed last year, which garnered 7.9% of shareholder votes in favor of a net neutrality proposal. In an open letter to Verizon shareholders, the proposal sponsors said failure to uphold network neutrality could present “serious legal, regulatory, reputational and financial risks” to Verizon while potentially reducing consumer choice, stifling economic growth and creating enormous barriers to tech innovation.

Tom Wheeler, a former wireless and cable lobbyist, might on paper be seen as a boon to industry and a blow to public interest groups. The fear among critics is that Wheeler's ties to big business could threaten consumers. But in fact, the battle lines on Wheeler's confirmation process aren't hardening in a predictable way at all. Consumer advocates themselves are somewhat divided on the pick.

Sascha Meinrath of the New America Foundation said he was "skeptical" of Wheeler's ability to "[hold] his former clients accountable." At the same time, a number of high-profile influentials have spoken out in Wheeler's favor -- including Susan Crawford, a professor at Cardozo Law School who was said to be in the running for FCC chair herself. Crawford often finds herself at odds with industry in her role as an outspoken defender of consumers, making the split among public interest groups all the more noteworthy.

But Gigi Sohn, the president and co-founder of Public Knowledge, said Wheeler's left-wing critics simply don't know him well enough and that he plans to be more than a "traffic cop" with little actual power over policymaking and regulation. "They've never worked with Tom Wheeler," said Sohn. "They're just going off his resume. And I just don't think a resume tells you everything." Sohn was quick to downplay the divide among consumer advocacy groups, but as a parting shot drew comparisons between Wheeler and sitting commissioner Mignon Clyburn, whom many initially opposed over ties that her father, Rep. Jim Clyburn, had with AT&T. "We were convinced she was going to be an AT&T toadie," said Sohn. "We assumed the worst about Clyburn and we were totally wrong."