Agenda at FCC Depends On Powers of Persuasion

[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Arshad Mohammed]
In the nine months since he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin has pushed through a series of decisions that have made the country's largest phone companies even bigger and, in the view of critics, made it harder for smaller companies to compete with them. On three major mergers and a string of regulatory decisions, he has persuaded a divided FCC to vote unanimously, testimony to political skills that observers say far outstrip those of his predecessor, Michael K. Powell. Over the next year, Martin's negotiating abilities will be put to the test as he tries to advance a generally deregulatory agenda and grapples with nettlesome issues such as how to rewrite media ownership rules and how to shore up the government program that subsidizes phone service in rural and poor regions. There is also persistent speculation in the industry that the former college student-body president may someday run for office.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/22/AR200512...
(requires registration)

See also --
* Big Issues Face FCC in 2006
[SOURCE: eWeek, AUTHOR: Caron Carlson]
Washington policymakers face several decisions in 2006 that will affect networking for years to come. The overarching challenge on Capitol Hill and at federal regulatory agencies will be to prevent rapidly evolving Internet services from clashing with the decades-old policy framework for security, privacy protection, law enforcement needs and communications subsidies. Next year, the struggle to regulate Internet-based phone services while appearing not to regulate the Internet will receive renewed focus as a wide array of industry, consumer protection and civil liberties groups pursue court challenges of rules subjecting interconnected VOIP providers to wiretap requirements.
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1902900,00.asp