Deborah D. McAdams / 12.10.2012 12:29PM
FCC Forms Technology Transition Policy Task Force
Group to examine resiliency of nationwide communications networks
WASHINGTON -- FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski today announced the formation of an
agency-wide Technology Transitions Policy Task Force under the leadership of
Sean Lev, the Commission’s General Counsel, who will serve as interim director,
and Rebekah Goodheart, associate chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, who will serve as deputy
director.
“The Technology Transitions Policy Task Force will play a
critical role in answering the fundamental policy question for communications
in the 21st century: In a
broadband world, how can we best ensure that our nation’s communications
policies continue to drive a virtuous cycle of innovation and investment,
promote competition and protect consumers?” Genachowski said.
The
nation’s broadband transition means that communications networks are
increasingly migrating from special purpose to general purpose, from
circuit-switched to packet-switched, and from copper to fiber and
wireless-based networks.
The Task Force also will coordinate the commission’s efforts on IP
interconnection, resiliency of 21st century communications
networks, business broadband competition, and consumer protection with a
particular focus on voice services. It will consider
recommendations from the Technological Advisory Committee on the PSTN
Transition, coordinate with the NARUC Presidential Task Force on Federalism and
Telecommunications, and evaluate the feedback from the commission’s pending
field hearings on Superstorm Sandy.
The
Task Force will conduct a data-driven review and provide recommendations to
modernize the commission’s policies in a process that encourages the
technological transition, empowers and protects consumers, promotes
competition, and ensures network resiliency and reliability.
“We
anticipated and addressed many of these issues in the National Broadband Plan,
and we’ve taken game-changing steps to deliver on its vision, including a
once-in-a-generation transformation of Universal Service and intercarrier
compensation and unprecedented efforts to unleash new spectrum to meet
skyrocketing wireless demand,” Genachowski said. “Congress has acted to update our
communications laws to keep pace with the broadband transition, including by
enacting the landmark Twenty-First Century Communications and Video
Accessibility Act of 2010, which ensures that individuals with
disabilities have access to today’s communications technologies, and by
authorizing the creation of a national interoperable public safety broadband
network. These actions are accelerating and spurring investment in 21st century communications networks.
But there’s still significant work for the commission to do.”
The
Task Force will include the Commission’s Chief Economist and Chief Technology
Officer, as well as representatives from across the agency, including staff
from the Wireline, Wireless, Media, Consumer Affairs, and Public Safety
Bureaus, as well as the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Strategic
Planning and Policy Analysis.