There was movement on the FCC nominee front last week. Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) scheduled a June 18 hearing on the nomination of Tom Wheeler as FCC chairman, and a highly placed source confirmed Republicans had interviewed Fred Campbell for the seat of former commissioner Robert McDowell.
Campbell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Communications Liberty & Innovation Project, declined comment. But a source said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)’s staff spoke with Campbell about the post.
McConnell is said to have wanted to extend the search to include academics and think-tank officials, and Campbell would fit the bill. A veteran communications attorney, Campbell was a wireless advisor to FCC chairman Kevin Martin, chief of the wireless bureau and a legal adviser on auction policies, arguably the FCC’s central issue as it preps for a second spectrum incentive auction. He is also a former president of the Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI). Wheeler, President Obama’s choice to succeed FCC chief Julius Genachowski, is also a former wireless trade group chief (CTIA) so they could certainly compare notes if both make the cut.
