New FCC chairman seeks to stoke competition

A Q&A with new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler.

After being sworn in, Chairman Wheeler asked for a review of all proposals before the FCC and expects that in two months. "I'm a network guy and I'm a history guy," said Chairman Wheeler, who has written two books on the Civil War including Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006). He plans to consider the review and "the lesson of history," he says, "and come up with some kind of structure that I can use to consider the issues that are going to come before us."

His number one priority is fostering competition. "We are obviously evolving from a monopoly market to a competitive market. The threat isn't over yet and we want to make sure that we're both promoting competition where it doesn't exist and protect it where it does. There are forces that naturally, not with malice, that naturally try to limit competition and the agency has to stand up and make sure we are protecting and promoting competition."