Person of the Year: Kevin Martin

At one time or another, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has managed to enrage, gratify and confound various factions of the wireless industry. And he's not done yet, having at least a month left to continue stirring it up before giving way to an Obama-appointed successor. The list is as long as it is controversial: open access, public safety, white spaces, major mobile phone and WiMAX merger approvals (and conditions), advanced wireless services-3, enhanced 911 location accuracy, roaming, backup power, universal service/intercarrier compensation reform and more. The results of Martin's wireless agenda have been mixed. The biggest constant has been controversy. Martin doesn't seem to shy away from it. He has plenty of detractors in the wireless industry and other telecom/media sectors (broadcasters ranted endlessly about the dangers of white spaces and Martin's stormy dealings with the cable industry are already legend), but there is little doubt about his disruptive impact on the wireless space. Indeed, policies that have reconfigured the wireless landscape will comprise a big chunk of Martin's legacy.