FCC Announces Senior Staff for Development of National Broadband Plan

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

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
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
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://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
> RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
> Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com




-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com