FCC chairman downplays downturn

ATLANTA--Michael Powell, chairman of the FCC, is dismayed with the gloom and doom attitude reflected in today's press. He admits times are tough, but he came out "in defense of optimism" at a keynote speech to Supercomm attendees this morning. 

"The current downturn is painful, but we cannot let that deter our march forward to change," he said. 

As FCC chairman, Powell is one of the most influential people leading that march. Under his guidance, Powell said the FCC will develop "the right regulatory framework for fostering innovation." That includes encouraging investment in new technologies and new companies and continued development in the same areas. 

In addition, Powell said, the FCC should "let the market pick the winners and losers, hopefully not the government or policy. Government is at its worst when it tries to pick." The FCC should "insist on seeing dangerous trends" before implementing policies, and that means the agency must remain vigilant in its monitoring of communications activities. 

Underscoring his recent proposal to Congress, Powell wants companies that fail to follow the rules to incur high fines. 

The FCC's role is to "make the hard decisions first" and to make them more clearly and quickly. Powell also wants to build the FCC technical knowledge, so the agency doesn't have to depend on companies to teach it. To that end, the FCC, he said, is hunting for engineers.
Susan Biagi is Editor-in-Chief for Telephony. She can be reached at susan_biagi@intertec.com.