WASHINGTON-Michele Farquhar is leaving the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to return to the Federal Communications Commission as head of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, a move strongly supported by industry.
Farquhar, who is acting deputy director and chief of staff for NTIA, is expected to join the agency this month or by early December. Her appointment is one of several high-level personnel changes triggered by Common Carrier Bureau Chief Kathleen Wallman’s departure from the FCC to become deputy counsel at the White House.
Regina Keeney, who currently oversees the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, will succeed Wallman.
“I’m very excited about returning,” said Farquhar. “I feel like I’m coming home.”
Farquhar was senior legal adviser to former FCC Commissioner Ervin Duggan and vice president of regulatory policy for the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association before joining NTIA two-and-a-half years ago.
The FCC’s gain is a loss for NTIA chief Larry Irving, who is struggling to keep morale up while the GOP-led Congress tries to dismantle his parent agency, the Commerce Department.
