F.C.C. Nominee Favors Competition Over Regulation

F.C.C. Nominee Favors Competition Over Regulation

WASHINGTON — President Obama's nominee to head the Federal
Communications Commission told a Senate committee on Tuesday that his
top priorities, if he is confirmed, would be consumer protection,
increasing competition and providing sufficient predictability so
companies know what rulings to expect.

The nominee, Tom Wheeler, told the Senate Commerce Committee that the
F.C.C.'s support of competition was especially important given
Americans' heavy dependence on communications networks in education,
public safety and consumer services.

He said that his experience as a telecommunications executive and as
the leader of lobbying groups for the cable television and cellphone
industries had convinced him that the agency needs to promote
competition over regulation.

"Competition is a power unto itself that must be encouraged," he said.
"Competitive markets produce better outcomes than regulated or
uncompetitive markets."

Mr. Wheeler backed away, however, from his comments in 2011 on his
blog. In the post, he said the F.C.C. might have expanded its
authority over wireless companies if it had approved the merger of
AT&T and T-Mobile by imposing conditions that could later be applied
to all wireless companies.

In response to questions, Mr. Wheeler said that any merger review must
consider the facts before the commission and not deal with theoretical
questions of the sort he raised in the blog post.

"In a hypothetical musing, it is possible to do that," Mr. Wheeler
said. But in a merger review, he added, "I am guided by precedent, the
statute and the facts before me."

Most of the other questions posed to Mr. Wheeler were friendly, and
several Republican senators expressed confidence that he would be
confirmed by inviting him to visit their states once he took office.

Mr. Wheeler also said that his experience as a lobbyist would not
prejudice him in regulating the industries he formerly championed. "I
was an advocate for specific points of view, and I hope I was a pretty
good advocate," Mr. Wheeler said. "If I am fortunate enough to be
confirmed, my client will be the American public, and I hope I can be
as effective an advocate for them as humanly possible."

Nevertheless, Mr. Wheeler also said it was his experience in the
wireless and cable industries — which, he acknowledged, are much
changed today from when he worked for them — rather than as a
regulator that provides his primary strengths.

As chief executive of what is now the National Cable and
Telecommunications Association in the 1980s, "I fought against the
F.C.C.'s rules limiting cable's ability to compete with new video
services," Mr. Wheeler said. "I worked for the ability of competitors
to bring services into the home."

Similarly, Mr. Wheeler said that his tenure in the 1990s as head of
the cellular phone trade group now known as CTIA-The Wireless
Association, was one in which start-up and rapidly growing cellphone
competitors were at the forefront of wholesale changes in
communications.

"During my tenure, that competition was expanded by the auctions of
1994, wireless was increasingly used in place of wire line, and
wireless data turned the phone into a pocket computer," Mr. Wheeler
said.

"All of these developments brought with them new policy challenges,"
he added, challenges that are no smaller now as wireless becomes the
primary method of broadband and voice communication for millions of
Americans.

Mr. Wheeler also promised to look into the favorite topics of most of
the lawmakers on the committee. Those topics include continuing the
E-Rate program, which provides subsidies for broadband connections at
schools and libraries; raising revenue from the spectrum incentive
auctions to help finance a public service communications network; and
figuring out how to address consumer frustration over disputes between
broadcasters and cable providers that often leave cable subscribers
with blackouts of certain channels.

Mr. Wheeler also addressed television decency standards, something
that the F.C.C. has wrestled with for decades. He said the bully
pulpit might have more influence than any regulations the agency could
write.

"I do believe it is possible to call upon our better angels with some
leadership," Mr. Wheeler said. He recalled that the "vast wasteland"
speech of Newton N. Minow, the former F.C.C. chairman, "caught
people's attention." He added: "Maybe it's time to do the same type of
thing today."

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