Change Coming to the Commission

With the long post-election contest now behind him, president-elect George W. Bush is concentrating on building his new administration - from the cabinet on up.

And the wireless industry is paying attention. Many within the industry are pleased Bush was elected, and they expect his nominee for chairman of the FCC to champion deregulation and streamline bureaucracy.

The top contender seems to be current FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, son of General Colin Powell (who has been tapped for secretary of state by Bush). Powell has served as commissioner since 1997, when he was nominated by President Bill Clinton. The other name that has surfaced is current chairman of the Texas Public Utilities Commission Pat Wood, who was appointed by then-Gov. Bush in 1995.

Both have publicly supported a hands-off approach to regulation, preferring to let market forces take their course. This approach has won Powell and Wood significant backing within the telecommunications industry.

Current House Telecommunications Subcommittee Chairman W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, R-LA, said in a speech last month that Powell would be his choice to lead the FCC. Tauzin has championed FCC reform, including a proposed measure that would hold the commission to a 90-day period for approving or rejecting the transfer of licenses for telecom mergers.

Jay Kitchen, PCIA president, said he was impressed with Powell's abilities and knowledge of the wireless industry.

"The kinds of messages that Michael Powell has been sending have been very strong and positive," Kitchen said. "He clearly has the backing of Chairman Tauzin, who obviously would be in a very influential position in the next congress .... That's very critical, because there are going to have to be close ties between the FCC and Congress. That kind of ringing endorsement from Chairman Tauzin puts Michael Powell in a very solid position dealing with the Hill."

Kitchen said both Powell and Wood are supportive of deregulation, which PCIA also supports.

Sheldon Moss, Crown Castle director of government affairs, said his company is looking forward to change at the FCC.

"We certainly appreciate Chairman Kennard and everything that he's done ...," he said. "But we're looking forward to working with a Federal Communications Commission that is, frankly, going to be led by another party. And I think Commissioner (Michael) Powell would certainly be an acceptable choice. In a nutshell, if Mr. Powell were to become chairman, he'd have more of a deregulatory agenda."

Moss said the current FCC system of "complex and convoluted" regulations could be "streamlined and still serve their purpose(s)."

Angelic Wireless "Charlie's Angels" has become one of the hottest movies of the holiday season, having grossed about $120 million by mid-December. And Nokia is getting in on the action with an extensive joint marketing deal.

Keith Nowak, Nokia media relations manager, said the film's tech focus and Nokia's goals were the basis for the mutually beneficial deal.

The movie's plot involves both GPS location technology, voice-recognition software and, of course, lots of Nokia phones being used by the Angels. By combining these three elements, the bad guys hope to un-veil the identity of Charlie.

Throughout the action-packed movie, Angels Dylan (Drew Barrymore), Alex (Lucy Liu) and Natalie (Cameron Diaz) are constantly whipping out their Nokia phones to communicate with each other, Charlie, Bosley (Bill Murray) and their boyfriends.

But seeing the Nokia logo flashed on the silver screen isn't all the company got out of the multi-faceted deal. In return for Nokia providing phones and service, Sony Pictures Entertainment included the company's logo in many aspects of its marketing program.

There were the "Charlie's Angels" commercials that seemed to promote Nokia as much as the movie. Circuit City and Best Buy electronics stores displayed cardboard cutouts of the Angels and offered an "Angel of a Deal" on Nokia phones. The promotions have extended into Europe, where the film is also doing well.

"This is pretty unique for Nokia," Nowak said. "It is the first time we've taken (a movie deal) this far - with the product placement, the international aspect and the commercials, which turned out great because of the actual movie footage in them."

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of the deal has been customer reaction.

"People are coming into the stores and asking for `The Charlie's Angels phone,'" he said. "That's always a good sign."