WASHINGTON-Brian Fontes has been named head of the United States delegation at the Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva next month.
Fontes, senior vice president for policy and administration at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and a former long-time aide to Federal Communications Commission member James Quello, will succeed Mike Synar.
Synar, a former Democratic congressman from Oklahoma, was appointed to lead the U.S. delegation to WRC-95 but had to withdraw after doctors discovered he had brain cancer. Synar is being treated in Bethesda, Md.
The conference will be held Oct. 23 to Nov. 17 under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union. A primary goal of the United States at WRC-95 is to secure more spectrum for voice and data low-earth-orbit global satellite systems.
“I think Brian Fontes is absolutely the best possible selection the White House could have made to lead the U.S. delegation,” said Scott Harris, chief of the International Bureau at the FCC. “We are thrilled with the choice.”
Harris said the large number of bilateral meetings with various countries in recent months should improve U.S. chances of winning support on policy objectives at the conference.
Fontes, who served as chief of staff to Quello during Quello’s stint as acting FCC chairman, is liked and respected in the telecommunications industry. He had success building consensus at the commission.
