December 2016

Ultimately, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler had a clear sense of his mission, which was to make sure that broadband—the transformative technology of this century—was available to all—which he combined with a distrust of the marketplace. Chairman Wheeler is a famed student of history, which includes the struggles to get electricity to the farm wives still beating clothes on rocks well into the last century. Some can fault—and many in the industry do—how he chose to accomplish his task, but it is hard to argue against trying to get broadband to everyone.

Chairman Wheeler signaled from day one that he viewed the FCC as a consumer-focused agency and that they, not industry, were his constituency. But again, media companies argue that they serve consumers too and could serve them better freed from some of the regulations Wheeler imposed or refused to un-impose. He also made it clear that he viewed edge providers like Google and Facebook, as creative forces for good in need of protecting against Internet Service Providers and their monopoly conduit into the home.

[Commentary] In recent weeks, the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has drawn concern from virtually all corners with its increasingly sharp critiques of innovative offerings that allow U.S. mobile consumers to enjoy more music, video and other bandwidth-intensive wireless content without seeing rising usage count against their data plans. Those new offerings are the latest field of engagement in a ferociously competitive U.S. wireless market, and consumers are wasting no time reaping the benefits — embracing T-Mobile’s Binge On and ONE, Verizon’s FreeBee Data service and AT&T’s DirecTV Now, among other plans. In today’s digital economy, wireless consumers are shunning a one-size-fits-all approach and embracing these new offerings that make it possible (and more affordable) to access the internet over mobile.

Yet over the course of the last year, the FCC’s wireless bureau has begun questioning if these free data services somehow threaten competition. While the current administration has appropriately focused on making available additional spectrum to meet consumers’ growing appetites for mobile data, the FCC in recent years has expanded its control over the wireless marketplace in contradiction of consumers’ clear preferences, including by reclassifying mobile broadband networks as garden variety utilities. Fresh leadership means a fresh perspective on these recent and regressive regulatory decisions and should include a fresh look at what consumers are clearly demonstrating they want from their wireless experience. Such a review and reset is overdue, and it is welcome by wireless innovators. We stand ready to make the most of what mobile innovation can contribute for our nation.

[Diane Smith is a board adviser to Mobile Future]

[Of Note: The journalist responsible for this article was not present at the meeting]
At the top of the gathering between Silicon Valley executive and President-elect Donald Trump, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella brought up perhaps the most thorny issue: Immigration and how the government can help tech with things like H-1B visas to keep and bring in more talent. Nadella pointed out that much of the company’s spending on research and development was in the U.S., even if 50 percent of the sales were elsewhere, so that immigration would benefit those here. Surprisingly to the group, Trump apparently responded favorably, “Let’s fix that,” he said, without a specific promise, and then asked, “What can I do to make it better?” Apple CEO Cook brought up a related issue, that of science, technology engineering and math education, which has been a big initiative of President Barack Obama, and also was pushed by Trump’s campaign rival Hillary Clinton.

The STEM issue was also pushed hard by Facebook COO Sandberg, who focused Trump on that kind of education for women and underrepresented minorities. She then brought up the issue of paid maternity leave. In the campaign, Trump unveiled a plan for six weeks of leave for women, while Clinton was advocating for 12 weeks for parents of either sex. One of the most interesting exchanges was with Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt, who briefly noted that he pondered what he would do if he were president, and then made the point that governmental information-technology programs were antiquated and unsafe, and needed to be upgraded. Schmidt then suggested to Trump that he be the “software president,” a phrase Trump misheard as “soft” president. Trump was not going to be soft! Laughs all around!