interesting-people message

[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [interesting-people Home]


Subject: [IP] Re: FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan




Begin forwarded message:

From: "Bob Frankston" <bob2-39@Bobf.Frankston.com>
Date: August 8, 2009 10:34:31 PM EDT
Cc: "'David P. Reed'" <dpreed@reed.com>, "'Dewayne Hendricks'" <dewayne@warpspeed.com>
Subject: RE: [IP] FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan

I obviously agree that there is a structural problem here. I wrote http://frankston.com/?Name=SpectrumDirt in response to an exchange about spectrum policy. Does the FCC have the capacity to challenge its defining premises? I did send a request to speak at the Broadband.gov Internet futures workshop (it’s supposed to look 10 to 20 years ahead but I cited an story I wrote 20 years ago as an example). The response was that they were going to put together the agenda and decide who will speak. That’s hardly an encouraging response to my attempt to think about the defining premises.
 
The question then is where change will come from. The FTC is looking at some practices in cellular business but not at the defining premises. Can they do more?
 
There are indeed people aware of these at least some of these issues at the FCC but can they escape their mandates and be more open about what doesn’t make sense? We see the problem in the demands for more “broadband” – it may be an in articulate way of asking for more “Internet” but it only reinforces the status quo and it is playing safe because you’re giving people what they say they want even if it isn’t really what need. In real business you survive by meeting needs not the inarticulate wants.
 
Alas, it’s not just the lack of technologists; it’s the lack of sufficient scope to see the overall issues in the interplay between policy and technology. If you have technologists told to work on “spectrum” they will do so. If you state the problem differently, as with the Voyager back in the 1960’s, then they won’t be bound by frequency allocation.
 
The key premise is that you need a network, like you need a railroad, in order to provide communications services. This idea fit very ATT’s model back in the 1930’s. The operator/owner can fund it by charging for the aforementioned services. Today we have multiple network operators which belies the original premise but we’re still stuck with a funding model that presumes the network is controlled by an operator selling services. More to the point – if you don’t need a network because we can operate our networks locally and we don’t need services because we create them ourselves using bits, then entire service-based model of the FCC no longer makes any sense.
 
So how do we articulate the problem of not just lacking clothes for the emperor but the entire empire being a fiction?
 
Think about it next time you try to buy a car and have to choose between one provided by Exxon, BP or Lukoil. You can’t actually buy the car because your only option is an annual lease or paying by the ride. That makes as much sense as the current FCC’s world.
 
If madness is doing the same thing again and again yet expecting different results, then the FCC is a case study.
 
As long as expertise is defined by being fluent in Regulatorium and not challenging it ….
 
I appreciate Dave Farber’s efforts as CT and feel for the frustration.
 
 
 
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net] 
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 19:02
To: ip
Subject: [IP] FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan
 
I delayed this to get a chance to react to messages about the FCC announcement. They agree with Dave's note and my reaction. When I was Chief Technologist, our key case was the AOL/TIME WARNER merger. The Chairman named 5 key staff to help guide the activity. The Chief Technologist was one of the 5.  My belief is that added to the ability of the group to handle a complex set of issues  and thus to provide proper guidance to the Commission.
 
Dave.
 
Begin forwarded message:
 
From: "David P. Reed" <dpreed@reed.com>
Date: August 5, 2009 12:36:36 PM EDT
Subject: Re: [IP] FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan
 
I note with interest that there is not a single educated engineer, scientist, or communications architect in this otherwise well-qualified crew.  (I could say "as usual", but since I have spoken to many at the FCC and outside about this problem).

Is this a problem?  Well, IMHO it is, because economists believe all they need to know about technology has been published in Coase's two papers (one statement of his that has informed all this debate is that only one communication can use a frequency at a time, and there are a very limited number of frequencies.  The pseudo-technologists - former "CEOs of High Tech Companies" are typical - buy this garbage as true, don't weigh a former executive of a high tech company or a business consulting company as a "scientist", though they play them in DC).

Similar problems relate to the poor understanding by lawyers of how businesses based on information exchange and protocols actually work (typically, the focus comes down to thinking that "fiber is fiber" independent of the protocols that are routed over it).  Most regulatory lawyers seem to conflate "access to the Internet" with the Internet itself, as one flagrant example of a legal error that a technologist might inform (You might think that Comcast bears the cost of funding the Internet as a whole if you didn't understand how protocols are different from "services").

Consequently the only technologically informed decision in the last administration of consequence was the UWB decision (I didn't like it, but it *was* technologically informed by serious effort at NIST and others) which was shepherded on the technology side primarily by NTIA and Commerce, not by the FCC.

I realize this sounds rude, but this is a real and serious problem that suggests there has been no improvement in this dimension whatever in DC, no matter what administration is "in power".



On 08/05/2009 11:55 AM, David Farber wrote:



Begin forwarded message: 

From: dewayne@warpspeed.com (Dewayne Hendricks) 
Date: August 4, 2009 10:26:52 PM EDT 
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <xyzzy@warpspeed.com> 
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan 

FCC ANNOUNCES SENIOR STAFF FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL BROADBAND PLAN 
Federal Communications Commission Julius Genachowski announced the appointment of several senior staffers who will work on the development of a National Broadband Plan as part of the Omnibus Broadband Initiative: 

1) Erik Garr, General Manager. Mr. Garr is on leave from Diamond Management and Technology Consultants, a consulting firm that he helped grow from a small private firm into a publicly traded global company, where he is a partner. At Diamond, Mr. Garr built and led consulting teams engaged on broadband issues for the U.S. Navy, the City of New York, and the World Economic Forum. He earned a Master's degree in Public Policy from University of Chicago, and a B.A. with high honors from the University of Michigan. 

2) Brian David, Adoption and Usage Director. Mr. David has held senior management positions where he helped build several entrepreneurial technology and communications companies, and has also covered media and telecom clients as a strategy consultant and investment banker. He ran business development and sales for Visage Mobile, ran consumer marketing and worked in strategy and business development for data services company NorthPoint Communications, and handled business development for Moxi Digital. Prior to his operating experience, he was a media banker at Goldman Sachs and a consultant to telecommunications clients at Bain & Company. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A., cum laude, from Duke University. 

3) Kristen Kane, National Purposes Director. Ms. Kane was Chief Operating Officer of the New York City Department of Education, where she was responsible for the implementation of the Bloomberg administration's reform strategy as well as oversight of daily operations. She also served as a vice president and equity research analyst at JP Morgan and worked at Salomon Smith Barney prior to that. She earned an M.B.A. with a Certificate in Public Management from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a B.A. from Yale College. 

4) John Horrigan, Consumer Research Director. Mr. Horrigan was Associate Director, Research, with the Pew Internet & American Life Project, where he analyzed survey data and draft reports for the Pew Internet Project. He was principal author of the report, Measuring Broadband, and author of over 40 other reports and data memoranda. Mr. Horrigan also served as legislative assistant and press secretary to U.S. Congressman Jake Pickle. He earned a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Administration at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also earned a Masters in Public Affairs. He earned a B.A. in Economics and Government from the University of Virginia. 

5) Rob Curtis, Deployment Director. Mr. Curtis was a leader in the high-tech and telecom practice of McKinsey & Co., where he led over 20 engagements directly related to network operations and strategy. He was President of Network Operations and Engineering for a large Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC), and served on the CompTel Board of Directors and Executive Committee. He was also an attorney at Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. in Houston. He earned a J.D. with Honors from Duke University School of Law, and a D. Phil. from Oxford University, where his dissertation dealt with the intersection of game theory and political theory 

6) Julie Veach, Acting Chief, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Ms. Veach is serving as the policy team lead for the broadband plan. As Acting Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, Ms. Veach leads many of the FCC's efforts involving broadband, universal service, intercarrier compensation, competition, data gathering and analysis. Prior to serving as Acting Chief, she was Deputy Chief, and served a variety of positions in the Bureau's Competition Policy Division. Before joining the FCC, she was an associate with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, and clerked for the Hon. Michael S. Kanne of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law in 1997, and earned a B.A. from Purdue University in 1993. 

7) John S. Leibovitz, Deputy Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC. Mr. Leibovitz is serving as the broadband team lead for spectrum issues. Mr. Leibovitz recently joined the FCC from the Presidential Transition Team, where he helped to coordinate the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform working group. Prior to the transition, Mr. Leibovitz worked as an entrepreneur and strategy consultant in the telecommunications industry, with an emphasis on the wireless sector. He started his business career with McKinsey & Company, in New York. He has written about technology and spectrum policy in the Yale Law Journal and the Yale Journal of Law and Technology. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.Phil. from Cambridge University, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. 

8) Donald Stockdale, Deputy Chief and Bureau Chief Economist Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Mr. Stockdale is serving as policy advisor to the broadband team. As Deputy Chief, he has supervised the FCC's pricing policy proceedings, including intercarrier compensation reform, the review of all wireline mergers and other policy proceedings raising competition issues. He has also advised the FCC on various broadband policy initiatives. He taught business and public policy at the University of Maryland's Business School, and was a litigation associate at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett, where he specialized in U.S. and European antitrust law. He earned a B.A. J.D. and Ph.D. in Economics, all from Yale University, and a M.A. in economics from Kings College, Cambridge. 

9) Krista Witanowski, Attorney Advisor, Media Bureau, FCC. Ms. Witanowski is serving as Workshop Coordinator. Prior to her position in the Media Bureau, she worked as an Attorney Advisor in the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis. She began her legal career as an associate at Wiley Rein. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, from Syracuse University; her M.A. in TV/Radio/Film from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications; and her undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross. 

10) Christopher Lewis is a Legislative Analyst in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the FCC and is handling legislative affairs for the National Broadband Plan team. Before joining the Office of Legislative Affairs, Chris served as a Senior Advisor on the Digital Television Transition policy team. He has worked in politics and community organizing for eight years with experience in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, civic engagement non-profit GenerationEngage, and several political campaigns at the local, state, and national levels. Chris graduated from Harvard University in 2002 with a B.A. in Government. 

11) Roger Goldblatt, Outreach and Policy Advisor, Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau, FCC. Mr. Goldblatt is Community Outreach Coordinator for the Omnibus Broadband Initiative. Mr. Goldblatt recently directed the national digital transition field outreach effort. Prior to joining the FCC, he was responsible for national outreach for the Presidential Council on Y2K Conversion. He has served in several White House Administrations, running the Health Care Reform Information Center and Office of Special Projects for the Clinton Administration. He has Masters from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. from George Washington University. 

12) Mark Wigfield, Media Spokesman, Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC. Mr. Wigfield will be chief spokesman for the broadband team. In addition to his Wireline Bureau duties, he recently helped lead the FCC's media relations team for the digital television transition. Prior to joining the FCC, he was a reporter covering technology and telecommunications for Dow Jones Newswires, where he also wrote numerous articles on technology for the Wall Street Journal. He was also a Washington correspondent for the company's community newspaper division. He earned a B.A. from Beloit College. 

Blair Levin will continue coordinating the Omnibus Broadband Initiative, for which he will serve as the Executive Director. 

<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-292541A1.doc> 

Courtesy of the Benton Foundation <http://www.benton.org> 
RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> 




------------------------------------------- 
Archives:https:/nverted-space"> 
RSS Feed: httpple-converted-space"> http://www.listbox.com

 

Archives


[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [interesting-people Home]


Powered by eList eXpress LLC