WASHINGTON-In the dog-eat-dog world that is life inside the Beltway, it is rare to find someone who is liked, respected and considered effective from people on both sides of the aisle. Meet Brian Fontes, this year’s inductee to RCR Wireless News’ Wireless Hall of Fame.
Why is Fontes so well liked and respected? In a word: passion.
“On lobbying, there is one word, maybe two, to describe Brian-passionate passion,” said Peter Tenhula, former wireless legal adviser to former Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell, now with Shared Spectrum Co. “He has always been a very passionate advocate. You can tell he believes in whatever he is pushing. He never hides anything. When I was in the chairman’s office, he never expected anything. He never expected me to side with him. In fact, he didn’t expect me to agree with him.”
This word passion kept coming up again and again in interviews with various Washington policy-makers. Even Fontes used it when asked, why wireless?
“I don’t know of a life that hasn’t been touched by wireless,” said Fontes, his face lighting up. “I love what I do. I am passionate about what I do.”
Fonte’s boss, Stan Sigman, president & chief executive officer of Cingular Wireless L.L.C., repeated the word passion when asked to comment on Fontes. Fontes is Cingular’s vice president of federal relations. Prior to joining Cingular, Fontes served as CTIA senior vice president for policy and administration, as well as chief of staff at the FCC.
“I have seen six different chiefs of staff. During his time as FCC chief of staff, it was the most efficient and effective,” said former FCC Chairman James Quello. “Brian’s popularity was the reason we got so much done.”
Fontes served as both FCC chief of staff during Quello’s chairmanship and as Quello’s senior adviser, a role typically held by lawyers. Fontes holds a Ph.D. rather than a law degree. “Not having a law degree is neither a plus nor a minus. It is fact. It allows me to see things from a different perspective,” he said.
As the chief policy strategist for Cingular, he has moved issues based on his word alone. “It is his reputation for the honest and ethical manner in which he has conducted himself for years,” said Sigman.
At Cingular, Fontes was part of the team involved with the acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services Inc. It was his first major merger and yet he lists it as one of his top achievements.” It was an adrenaline high. It was an intense learning experience,” he said.
Fontes’ career path to wireless happened almost by accident. After teaching at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he made the conscious decision to leave academia. Joining the FCC’s Office of Plans & Policy, he then moved to the FCC’s Mass Media Bureau before being asked to join Quello’s office. In Quello’s office, he was given the wireless portfolio-just one year after the first cellular licenses were issued. He has been hooked ever since.
While Quello was FCC chairman, the agency was directed to set up the PCS auctions that allowed the wireless industry to go from a duopoly to the competitive industry it is today. Tenhula was an FCC staffer at the time and was asked to join the PCS task force Fontes created to spell out auction rules. Tenhula described the process as collaborative with daily meetings to discuss various options. At the end of the process, Tenhula says, there were those who disagreed, but everyone knew why. “Nobody was left in the dark.”
Since his time at CTIA, Fontes has been at the center of the effort to deploy wireless enhanced 911 service, and it is yet another area where the word passion shows up. “This whole issue of 911 is one of my passions. It is the right thing to do, but it needs to be done in the correct manner,” he said.
While Fontes will usually pontificate about the need for less regulation, he believes that 911 is one area where regulation is OK, but believes that some of the early expectations were unrealistic.
“911 is an issue that is the right issue for regulators to address, but some of the implementation has been problematic,” Fontes said. “Expectations were far greater than what could be accomplished.”
Realistic or not, Fontes dug in, cultivating relationships in the public-safety community to smooth out the rough edges. “Brian is a true gentleman, a scholar, a man of insight, and is one of those few people in the industry who exudes wisdom. While Brian has been an outspoken leader for the wireless industry, he has equally demonstrated unparalleled insights related to public-safety and public policy issues,” said Joe Hanna, a public-safety consultant.
Another common word used to describe Fontes is internationalist. He has traveled the world for both work and pleasure. He was given the rank of ambassador when he led the U.S. delegation at the 1995 World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva. He also served three years as chairman of the Communication Regulatory Agency for Bosnia Herzegovina.
His work in Bosnia Herzegovina is wildly praised on both sides of the Atlantic. His boss during most of his time as CRA chairman, Thomas Wheeler, former CTIA president, expressed amazement that Fontes never missed a beat while jumping back-and-forth across the Atlantic.
“He would fly over and fly back and never miss a beat at CTIA,” said Wheeler, noting that the assignment was dangerous in a country emerging from civil war. Wheeler remembers Fontes telling him he was told to not “walk on the grass because that is where the landmines are.”
The assignment, summed up Wheeler, was accomplished at “personal risk, physical hardship and it wasn’t exactly an assignment in Paris.”
The CRA was created to establish policies, procedures, and practices of spectrum management.
In addition to facing landmines, Fontes faced parties distrustful of each other. Several involved in the creation of CRA talk about how he was able to get the two sides talking by charming them into it. “I have seen him use his disarming calm charm to good effect on many occasions,” said Katrin Metcalf, international legal adviser to the CRA.
In addition to his success in Bosnia Herzegovina, Fontes was part of a government tribunal that created the South African Independent Broadcasting Authority. He has done similar work in other West African nations.
Fontes is so passionate about his work that he never goes on vacation. He is famous for calling into conference calls when he is supposedly on vacation, and he’s famous for returning calls and e-mails during those respites.
Given his reputation for always working, Fontes still finds time to devote to church and civic responsibilities, seeking out opportunities to work with the disabled community. He is also known for going out of his way to arrange needed services for friends and colleagues.
Fontes received a Ph.D. in Mass/Telecommunications from Michigan State University. He also serves as chairman for the advisory board for the James H. and Mary B. Quello Center for Telecommunication Management and Law. RCR