Mr. Independence

Forget the dark, desperate and hopeless emotions overriding the telecom industry today. Telecom is driving forward, said FCC Chairman Michael Powell at Supercomm 2001. As voice and data converge, some shake-ups are bound to occur.

“We underappreciated and underestimated the challenges of the journey. Massive migrations rarely are uneventful,” he said. “It’s distinctly chic to be a naysayer. The current downturn is painful, but we cannot let that deter our march forward to change.”

And change it will, he said. “Packet-switching, broadband and the digital use of the air and sky will be underpinnings of the future.”

But technical advances and new applications won’t be the only changes. Powell’s FCC will lead a different type of migration—one that deals with market forces and regulations. He outlined several goals: Create the “right regulatory framework for fostering innovation, encourage investment and let the market pick the winners and losers.”

Speaking in vague terms, Powell implied he will seek to decrease regulatory intervention to shape markets. The government, he said, “must remain vigilant and insist on seeing dangerous trends before acting.”

The FCC will respond to these “dangerous trends” as necessary, he said. “Indecision and inaction are not a legitimate policy.”

Powell’s plan is to turn inward and refocus the FCC. The group will be responsible for making the hard decisions first, he said. Decisions must be clearly defined and quickly determined so the companies they affect can move forward swiftly. The ultimate goal is to force innovation in a market-driven way and punish companies that don’t play by the rules.

“Nimble, fleet-footed companies will advance,” Powell said.

In addition, the FCC must strengthen its own technical knowledge. To that end, it is developing what Powell dubbed “the FCC University” and is actively recruiting engineers, attorneys and economists to join its ranks.

Independence is a chief concern, Powell added. “Money will not flow into markets if there is the perception that the FCC is rigged,” he said.

Though Powell shied away from specific technologies, when asked about rural broadband service, he became animated.

“There is an immediate assumption that broadband won’t get [to rural areas]. I don’t believe it,” he said. “The telephone system had to get to all places, and broadband is a system upgrade. Even DSL can serve that market. Cable service passes 98% of homes in America.”