As far as first press conferences go, new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Bill Kennard did well. In fact, he was nearly flawless as far as these thing go. Relaxed, composed and confident (good eye contact and understated head and hand movement), Kennard was in full control before a packed room of lights, cameras and reporters.
Kennard’s answers to reporters’ questions were thoughtful and detailed at times, vague at other times.
But far from the precise legalese he uttered as FCC general counsel, Kennard, the FCC chairman, spoke more in the abstract and waxed poetic as he tried to give voice to his vision for the agency. His mission quite simply, he said, is “to serve the American people in the best way I can.”
This charge, Kennard explained, would be guided by the principles of competition, common sense and community.
That he was comfortable was understandable. This is where he has worked the past four years as the FCC’s top lawyer and Hundt’s understudy. Yet, this is a new role-the biggest ever for the 40-year-old California native-and he would have been forgiven had he been a tad shaky.
But he wasn’t. Kennard at once ceased looking like a member of the supporting cast and took on the persona of The Star.
But one press conference does not an FCC chairman make.
Questions from the Washington press corps, while at times pointed, lacked the hostile tone that came to haunt Hundt over time. But then, that is what a honeymoon is all about. Kennard won’t get any tough questions for a while. Indeed, he takes center stage highly regarded by the telecom industry, the communications bar and the media. Reporters want to establish access and nail down `exclusive’ interviews with the new telecom czar. The difficult questions will come later.
Some sooner, like the unspoken one in the minds of official Washington: Is Kennard going to be an extension of Reed Hundt. “Hundt lite” or “Hundt without horns,” as it were.
It may be too early, too presumptuous, perhaps even unfair, to ask such a question. But it is out there just the same, and is at the core of whether Kennard, the three other new agency members, and Commissioner Susan Ness of the Democratic-dominated FCC can meet the challenge of working with the GOP-led Congress, state regulators and others in fostering telecom competition before mega merger-driven consolidation moots the issue.
Personality wise, Kennard seems to be everything Hundt is not: modest and unassuming, by all accounts better tooled to forge a consensus on dicy telecom issues than was the argumentative and headstrong Hundt.
For now, in a city where inside knowledge is more valuable than money, everyone is hungry with anticipation about Kennard’s intentions. In the early going, at least, official Washington will hang onto every word of the new FCC chief and analyze intensively everything he says for clues.
If the question is whether Kennard-who recruited his entire staff from within the Hundt FCC-is going to follow his predecessor’s footsteps, one might look at how he fielded questions on key wireless issues.
On C-block personal communications services license debt restructuring, Kennard’s words had a Hundt-like ring to them: “I think it would be devastating for the commission to be embroiled in multiple billion-dollar bankruptcy proceedings. I favor finding a way to resolve this in a way that gets service out to the public as quickly as possible and keeps these licenses out of protracted bankruptcy proceedings.”
One way to do that would be to secure legislation forbidding bankrupt firms from tying up licenses. That won’t happen this year, and prospects for next year are uncertain.
Another solution is to revise rules on C-block PCS debt restructuring along the lines that Hundt unsuccessfully advocated. At least one commissioner, Susan Ness, opposes any such move.
On federal pre-emption of local and state antenna siting, Kennard sounded less hawkish than Hundt. As Kennard told lawmakers at his Senate confirmation hearing, “I believe pre-emption should be a last resort.”
The FCC has proposed to pre-empt excessive antenna siting moratoria, but there is a backlash in Congress against taking away power that was supposed to devolve to states under the new federalism that Republicans promised after winning the majority in Congress three years ago.
The wireless industry, for its part, wants help from the government it has paid $10 billion so far to in furtherance of the national policy of competition.
That Nextel Communications Inc. is pummeling competitors in the dispatch radio auction, said Kennard, didn’t imply that either he or Hundt are insensitive to small business needs. The specialized mobile radio lobby, comprised of Nextel and small dispatch radio operators, believes small business suffered greatly under Hundt.
From this day forward, Congress and the Baby Bells will be breathing down Kennard’s neck to fix rules that haven’t passed muster with federal judges. The big three long distance carriers-AT&T Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and Sprint Corp.-will urge Kennard to hang tough and to not give into pressure.
Congressional and White House budgeteers will be looking for Kennard to bring more money into the U.S. treasury.
The Hundt-bashing broadcast lobby, which Kennard used to work for, will want ensure the time-honored tradition of getting spectrum for free is kept intact.
Then there are the other commissioners: Ness, Gloria Tristani, Michael Powell and Harold Furchtgott-Roth. In short, there will be a fierce fight for the heart and soul of Bill Kennard in months to come.
