No doubt, a change at the helm of the FCC is both a scary and
exciting time in our business. So in 2009 when President Obama
appointed Julius Genachowski as Chairman of the FCC, everyone here
at Smartcomm took a collective sigh of relief. With rumors
swirling that Mr. Genachowski may leave his post at the FCC next
year, despite President Obama's reelection, Smartcomm felt it was a
good time to pay homage to the man.
A veteran commission aide with a strong focus on mobile
broadband, Smartcomm has always felt that the President made a
great choice with Genachowski. And as expected, he has
accomplished remarkable things over the last few years. Julius
Genachowski arrived at the FCC understanding that in the last
decade the ways by which we communicate have drastically gone
wireless; consumers are trading in home phone lines for smart
phones, cable subscriptions for streaming videos and
TV-over-the-Internet. Thankfully, rather than curbing the growth of
our organically booming industry with regulatory hurdles, Chairman
Genachowski decided to support us. Some of Smartcomm's favorite
Genachowski accomplishments thus far:
- He's made more spectrum available for mobile broadband. Smart
phones, tablets and other bandwidth hog devices have put us on the
verge of a spectrum crisis. Smartcomm's opinion is that the
spectrum crunch will continue for the foreseeable future, but at
least this Chairman has made new spectrum allocations for mobile
broadband a priority. He has solidified plans for upcoming spectrum
auctions which will put a band aid on the bleeding jugular, for
now.
- He created a more transparent FCC with open-to-the-public
strategy sessions and a streamlined, more informative website.
- He banned loud commercials.
- He enacted data roaming rules so now the consumers of regional
carriers will soon enjoy the benefits of nationwide mobile data
access at a reasonable cost. One small step for the little
guy.
- He pulled Public Safety out of the Stone Age by 1) putting
Text-to-911 services on the fast track. With all four major
wireless carriers now on board, the service is slated to be
available to all Americans nationwide by 2014. And, 2) he also
secured the 700 MHz D-Block for Public Safety + President Obama
pledged $7 billion in funding for a new LTE network for first
responders.
During President Obama's second term, freeing up more spectrum
for mobile broadband is expected to continue to be a key point of
focus on the FCC agenda. Smartcomm's hope that Julius
Genachowski will remain at the helm for four more years. If not,
the new Chairman will have big shoes to fill.