TAC to Look at Recommendations for New Regulations, Deregulation
The FCC’s reconstituted Technological Advisory Committee (TAC) must focus on how to keep the commission relevant in an era of enormous change, committee Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday, as the group held the first of what are expected to be quarterly meetings. Wheeler, managing director of Core Capital Partners and a former president of CTIA and NCTA, said the TAC’s focus should be on things that the FCC can do to spur investment in the high-tech sector and create jobs.
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"IP has pushed things to the edge, innovation has followed it to the edge and we need to incorporate that into the thinking of this group as well,” Wheeler said. “What can the FCC do to make sure that it is not only keeping pace with change but is leading and that there are measurable, tangible results from that leadership -- spelled investment and jobs?”
The TAC also should help the FCC answer a key question: “What’s the role of a network-rooted agency in a world that is driven by IP to the edge?” Wheeler said. The committee will focus on areas in which the FCC can use its “bully pulpit” to call attention to problems and to recommend new regulation and areas where deregulation would be appropriate, he said. The TAC’s launch was announced at an FCC spectrum forum, but spectrum will not be the group’s only focus, Wheeler said. The committee’s goal must be to come up with concrete recommendations to the FCC and not become “just an interesting discussion group,” he said.
Many comments Thursday focused on the migration to IPv6 and what TAC members called a need for the FCC to provide more leadership on the issue. Other topics included spectrum and infrastructure sharing, how to stimulate more communications research, a need for spectrum and other testbeds, and communication between the FCC and other federal agencies. The group is also expected to focus on right-of-way issues and on ways to accelerate the termination of old networks and infrastructure.
David Tennenhouse, a partner at New Venture Partners and TAC member, said the group should focus on eliminating impediments to investment. “Where are the investment frictions?” he asked. “I had a long list and I think we all did of where the frictions are."
TAC must take a long view on research, said Adam Drobot, chief technology officer at 2M Companies. “When you look at research that impacts the nation in the long run, it’s a contact sport,” he said. “Getting people to understand what real operating problems are, access to real data, I think are absolutely key to making progress. If you have a good telescope and you know what you're looking at, the answers are easy.” Some problems are “sexy” and industry addresses them immediately, Drobot said. “There are many problems which are very staid -- they look not super-exciting -- but they have one hell of an economic impact."
Genachowski, who spoke during the meeting, noted a recent study that found the U.S. is sixth out of 40 industrialized nations in “innovative capacity,” but at the bottom of the list on how quickly the capacity is increasing. “Now that’s scary,” he said. “It’s better” than the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s broadband deployment ranking, but “of course, it’s not OK."
Technology has a big role to play in “near term job creation” and turning around a still struggling economy, Genachowski said. “Anything that helps there would be welcomed,” he said. He specifically encouraged the TAC to look at easement issues. “What are the concrete steps we can take long term?” he asked.