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February 2017

Senate, House Aides Said to Vie for Top NTIA Spot

Two senior congressional telecommunications aides, David Redl and David Quinalty, are said to be vying to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, apparently. The NTIA is a Department of Commerce agency that plays a critical role in managing one of the country’s most valuable, if intangible, natural resources: radio wave spectrum. The wireless industry is hungry to get its hands on some of those airwaves in coming years, likely giving the agency more influence over the industry’s future. President Donald Trump will nominate the next NTIA administrator, subject to Senate confirmation.

Redl, current Republican chief counsel for communications and technology on the House Commerce Committee, is said to have thrown his hat into a ring already filled with several other contenders for the position, according to the sources. Redl has been a lawyer with the committee since 2011. He previously worked as director of regulatory affairs at CTIA, the largest wireless industry trade group. Quinalty, senior policy director on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, is also said to be interested in the role, as well as a possible position on President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council, the sources said. Quinalty has been a GOP aide on the committee since 2009.

With Conflict And Drama, Trump Hooks You Like A Reality TV Show

If one thing became clear over the course of the 2016 presidential campaign, it's that Donald Trump knows how to keep media attention on himself. If cable television coverage started to stray, a new controversial tweet or remark would draw it back to Trump. And one reason Trump received so much coverage was that people were watching.

The first debate between Trump and Clinton was the most-watched debate ever. "It was the best reality TV show," says Tom Forman. He would know, because he makes reality TV. Forman is the CEO of the production company Critical Content. He brought reality TV hits like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and the controversial show Kid Nation to millions of viewers. "Who knew how it was going to end?" he says. "Constant elimination, a big field that got narrowed over the course of the campaign. And just when you thought it couldn't get any weirder and crazier, somehow it seems to. Like, those were teases I couldn't have written if I tried." Forman talked with NPR's David Greene about how he thinks Trump is approaching public relations during his new presidency — in a way you might expect to see on reality TV.

Is Steve Bannon the Second Most Powerful Man in the World?

Most modern Presidents chart their opening moves with the help of a friendly think tank or a set of long-held beliefs. Donald Trump's first steps had the feel of a documentary film made by his chief strategist and alter ego Stephen K. Bannon, a director who deploys ravenous sharks, shrieking tornadoes and mushroom clouds as reliably as John Ford shot Monument Valley.

Act I of the Trump presidency has been filled with disruption, as promised by Trump and programmed by Bannon, with plenty of resistance in reply, from both inside and outside the government. Perhaps this should not be surprising. Trump told America many times in 2016 that his would be no ordinary Administration. Having launched his campaign as a can-do chief executive, he came to see himself as the leader of a movement--and no movement is complete without its commissar. Bannon is the one who keeps the doctrine pure, the true believer, who is in it not for money or position, but to change history. "What we are witnessing now is the birth of a new political order," Bannon wrote in an email to the Washington Post.

Don't Neglect ‘Invisible Infrastructure’

[Commentary] In his early days in office, true to his campaign promises, President Donald Trump is promoting a $1 trillion plan to upgrade the nation's aging physical infrastructure. To maximize job creation, investment and benefits to all Americans, he should also focus on our "invisible infrastructure" -- the unseen airwaves that enable wireless connections.

As a start, here are some ideas the new administration should pursue as part of an Invisible Infrastructure Initiative: 1) expand the spectrum pipeline, 2) focus on government spectrum, and 3) remove barriers to expanding broadband.

[Julius Genachowski, former chairman of the FCC, is a managing director and partner at the Carlyle Group.]

FCC Begins Review for Possible Revision or Elimination of Rules

This document invites members of the public to comment on the Federal Communication Commission’s rules to be reviewed pursuant to section 610 of the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA). The purpose of the review is to determine whether FCC rules whose ten-year anniversary dates are in the years 2011–2014 should be continued without change, amended, or rescinded in order to minimize any significant impact the rules may have on a substantial number of small entities. Upon receipt of comments from the public, the FCC will evaluate those comments and consider whether action should be taken to rescind or amend the relevant rule(s). Comments may be filed on or before May 4, 2017.

Broadband-related items:
Implementation of Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996; Commission Collection of Advanced Telecommunications Capability Data
Broadband PCS
Broadband Radio Service and Educational Broadband Service
Universal Service Support for High Cost Areas
Universal Service Support for Schools and Libraries

The Politicization of Everything

Tired of the election and our latest First 100 Days already? Too bad. Good luck trying to disengage. Thanks to social media, and to the nature of our new president and his administration, politics is suddenly with us always, in every aspect of our lives, including wherever we may look for diversion.

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