WASHINGTON-After two years in the job, FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth does not see his role as one of reforming the Federal Communications Commission.
“I don’t view my role as inventing the agency or inventing anything,” said Furchtgott-Roth on Thursday.
This from the commissioner who is best known for dissenting or partially dissenting on many items voted on by the full commission. This also from a regulator who believes regulatory agencies that cannot keep up with technologies should not regulate those concerns.
“When technology is changing faster than regulators can keep up, regulators should get out of the way,” Furchtgott-Roth said. He also said that when the Interstate Commerce Commission was created in the 1900s to regulate the railroad system, it had an easier job than the FCC has today as it regulates the rapidly changing telecommunications industry.
“I think it is a lot easier to define a regulatory role for a static industry,” Furchtgott-Roth said. He made his comments at a briefing for reporters to introduce new members of his staff. In the last several months, many of his legal advisers have left for the private sector. Bryan Tramont is serving as his wireless legal adviser replacing Paul Misener.
Furchtgott-Roth would like to see the FCC set definitive rules about its processes so that everyone knows what to expect. He said he finds it amazing how “very little of this is written down, so when disputes arise” there is nothing formal to fall back on.
Earlier this year, Furchtgott-Roth charged he could not effectively do his job because FCC Chairman William Kennard had blocked access to FCC staff. He sent a letter to Congress and also asked that processes be written down. He said last week that a staff working group has been working on a process memo for almost a year but that it is not yet complete.
