Sprint Official Is Tapped to Shape Telecom Policy

The Obama administration has tapped a Washington executive of Sprint Nextel Corp. to help run an agency that shapes telecommunications policy and will dole out billions of dollars in federal stimulus money to wireless providers. As a vice president of government affairs for Sprint, Anna Gomez wasn't registered as a lobbyist and thus isn't restricted by President Barack Obama's new ban on hiring lobbyists to oversee the issues they influenced in the private sector. A separate provision in the administration's new ethics rules -- one that restricts appointees' work with recent employers -- will limit Ms. Gomez's official duties, preventing her from reviewing contract bids by Sprint for two years. But she could still play a role shaping policies that affect her former employer. Ms. Gomez was named deputy director of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration on Feb. 3. She is currently acting director of the agency, which shapes the president's telecom policy within the Commerce Department. Under the stimulus bill negotiated by Congress this week, the NTIA will handle as much as $6.65 billion in wireless and broadband grants available to Sprint and its competitors. NTIA spokesman Bart Forbes said in an interview that Ms. Gomez believes the public has "every right to be concerned about her role in a potential broadband grant program," given her background at Sprint. "She is discussing this with the ethics office and will look to remove herself from the decision-making process" for grant applications where appropriate, he said.