FCC's Martin known as consensus builder

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: November 9, 2005 11:09:27 AM EST
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] FCC's Martin known as consensus builder
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com

[Note:  This item comes from reader Randy Burge.  DLH]

> From: Randy Burge <burge () proactive to>
> Date: November 8, 2005 9:09:04 PM PST
> To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () dandin com>
> Subject: USA Today: FCC's Martin known as consensus builder
>
>
>
> <http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-10-30-martin-cover_x.htm>
>
> Martin known as consensus builder
> By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
> Posted 10/30/2005 10:44 PM     Updated 10/30/2005 11:45 PM
>
> On his high school football team, Kevin Martin memorized not just  
> his own blocking instructions but also those of his forgetful  
> fellow linemen.
>
> "There may have been guards that were physically stronger and  
> bigger," says Arthur Baines, a teammate and longtime friend. "But  
> Kevin understood how he could make a difference."
>
> Now, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Martin,  
> 38, still knows everyone's plays. Those of his FCC colleagues.  
> Lawmakers. Industry players. Critics.
>   About Kevin Martin
>
> Age: 38.
> Hometown: Waxhaw, N.C.
> Education: Bachelor's in political science, UNC-Chapel Hill;  
> master's in public policy, Duke University; law degree, Harvard  
> University.
> Previous experience: FCC commissioner; special assistant to the  
> president for economic policy; deputy general counsel to George W.  
> Bush's presidential campaign; adviser to former FCC commissioner  
> Harold Furchtgott-Roth; associate to independent counsel Kenneth  
> Starr in the Whitewater investigation; lawyer, Wiley Rein &  
> Fielding, a communications law firm.
> Personal: Married to Catherine Martin, deputy assistant to  
> President Bush. The two, who met at Harvard Law School, are  
> expecting their first child in November.
> Hobbies: Golf.
> Favorite TV shows: News programs.
>
> Since taking the helm at the FCC in March, Martin has deployed his  
> gifts as a consensus builder to win a string of bipartisan 4-0  
> votes. He's also calmed an agency that was sharply polarized under  
> its previous chairman, Michael Powell.
>
> His latest victory could come as early as today, when the FCC could  
> approve two mergers that will reshape the telecommunications  
> industry: SBC's purchase of AT&T and Verizon's acquisition of MCI.  
> Over the weekend, Martin sought unanimous backing for the deals  
> from a panel that's evenly split between Republicans and Democrats,  
> with a fifth seat vacant.
>
> It hasn't been easy. Martin's first plan called for approving the  
> deals without forcing any concessions from the merger partners. The  
> Democratic commissioners sought requirements to protect  
> competition. Sunday night, Martin was on the verge of brokering  
> pacts to appease the companies and the Democrats, say people with  
> direct knowledge of the matter.
>
> "Most of the time, people are raising legitimate issues, and if you  
> can find a way to incorporate those, it only makes the ultimate  
> decision stronger," Martin, a seasoned Washington lawyer with close  
> ties to the White House, told USA TODAY.
>
> Says Bruce Mehlman, who worked with Martin when both were young  
> lawyers, "Kevin's a master of finding ways to structure deals that  
> have everyone feeling satisfied."
>
> Still, some public-interest advocates remain wary of Martin's  
> leadership, fearful of a pro-business agenda that could limit  
> choice and price competition for phone and Internet services. Mark  
> Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America says he worries that  
> Martin's political agility could gain bipartisan support for  
> rulings that only appear consumer-friendly.
>
> "Powell managed to irritate people and was an easier target,"  
> Cooper says. "The fact that (Martin) is more astute politically is  
> going to make our job harder."
>
> Moving at a faster pace
>
> But no one disputes this: Martin is racing his agenda through an  
> FCC that once moved at a glacial pace and often split on partisan  
> lines. He's done so with a pragmatic streak, a shrewd political  
> antenna and sharp intelligence, all cloaked in a disarming personal  
> style.
>
> "He's very gentlemanly and low-key, which belies a very keen mind,"  
> says Richard Wiley, a lawyer who lobbies Martin on behalf of big  
> telecom and media companies. "Underestimate him at your peril."
>
> Martin's knack for consensus building will be tested more  
> rigorously in coming months, as the phone, cable and media  
> industries increasingly overlap and compete. His challenges include  
> steering the nation's transition to digital TV; reforming the  
> shrinking subsidy system that keeps phone service affordable in  
> rural areas; and maybe passing rules that could expand the reach of  
> big media companies.
>
> He's also expected to be even tougher on broadcasters that violate  
> indecency rules than was Powell, whose FCC socked TV and radio  
> stations with a record $7.7 million in fines last year.
>   Tough issues ahead for Martin
>
> Media ownership
> An appeals court struck down predecessor Michael Powell's plan to  
> let media conglomerates snap up more outlets. So Kevin Martin must  
> modify the plan. Public-interest advocates are sure to warn of the  
> perils of allowing a few giant companies to control the airwaves.  
> Martin could submit a scaled-down plan that would allow a company  
> to both own a newspaper and some broadcast stations in the same  
> market.
>  "When we try to tee the issues up in bite-size chunks," Martin  
> says, "we're more likely to continue to make progress."
>  One option, he says: to confine the looser ownership caps to large  
> markets with the most media outlets. Martin says the agency could  
> also target some small markets where mergers would "increase the  
> amount of news coverage or maintain failing stations or newspapers."
>  Martin concedes he might not win Democratic support. "The issue is  
> very complex and very contentious," he says.
>
> Indecency
> Martin dissented from several of Powell's indecency rulings; Martin  
> said the FCC wasn't being strict enough. He's urged cable companies  
> to build a tier of family-friendly programming. And he's said he  
> wants to rule simultaneously on a big backlog of indecency  
> complaints; he'd like to quell criticism that the FCC's line  
> between indecent and acceptable content is fuzzy. "We both need to  
> provide clearer direction of where we're headed but be sensitive  
> that we're not chilling speech," he says.
>  Broadcasters, meanwhile, might sue to overturn several indecency  
> rulings.
>
> Digital TV
> Martin favors reclaiming broadcasters' analog channels soon so they  
> can be used to boost public-safety radio communication. But he's  
> broken with fellow commissioners in saying cable companies should  
> have to carry broadcasters' multiple new digital channels.  
> Examples: all-weather or all-news stations. "What local  
> broadcasters provide in terms of local news and information to the  
> community is really important," he says.
>
> Universal service fund
> The $6 billion fund helps keep phone service affordable in rural  
> areas. It's financed by a 10% surcharge on all long-distance bills.
>  But the fund is shrinking fast. That's because consumers are  
> shifting to wireless calling, e-mail and Internet-based phone  
> services. Those services contribute less, or nothing, to universal  
> service. Other FCC officials have called for imposing universal  
> service fees on all broadband services. Martin has opposed such  
> broadband regulation.
>  Instead, he wants to impose a similar charge on all services that  
> use a phone number — including wireless and Internet-based phone  
> services.. "We know how many telephones are out there, we have data  
> on that, and it would be easier from an administrative  
> perspective," Martin says.
>
> By Paul Davidson
>
> Martin is unapologetic about a deregulatory stance that favors  
> easing constraints on big phone, cable and media firms. "We prefer  
> markets over regulation," he says in an interview in his bright  
> corner office.
>
> At the same time, Martin has been willing to subtly bend his free- 
> market principles to satisfy FCC Democrats. "I'll try to identify  
> what seems like a fair way to reach a compromise, but I'll base it  
> on some standard."
>
> Though Martin and Powell share many similar views, their styles  
> clash. Powell was a charismatic, expansive chairman who expressed a  
> free-market ethos in eloquent bursts of rhetoric. Yet his plans to  
> deregulate the regional phone giants and big media companies were  
> largely derailed by fellow commissioners, the courts or Congress.  
> Powell drew criticism that he failed to anticipate political  
> resistance to his proposals and made scant effort to build  
> coalitions at the FCC.
>
> Martin is a mild-mannered, self-effacing Southerner whose boyish  
> looks and round, wire-rimmed glasses remind some of a grown-up  
> Harry Potter. He favors dark pinstripe suits and speaks in soft  
> tones. His sentences are often broken by long pauses as he weighs  
> his words. And Martin revels in consensus building.
>
> "It's like a Rubik's Cube, where you're trying to look at all  
> different sides," he says.
>
> Powell set the stage for the deregulation of the traditional phone  
> industry and the emergence of Internet-based phone and wireless  
> broadband alternatives. But many view Martin as better suited to  
> the trench work needed to complete that transition.
>
> "People share the view that he's a far more effective politician  
> and tactician than Michael Powell," says Andrew Schwartzman of the  
> Media Access Project, which has fought deregulatory efforts.
>
> Among Martin's victories:
>
> • He drew unanimous FCC support to require Internet-based phone  
> services to offer full-featured 911 service. To defuse potential  
> opposition from industry players, he humanized the issue. He  
> invited families who'd had trouble reaching an emergency operator —  
> including a mother who says her infant died because of the delay —  
> to speak at the FCC meeting.
>
> "There was no chance that anybody would have anything negative to  
> say," says Robert Quinn, a vice president at AT&T, which offers an  
> Internet-based phone service. "He got the job done."
>
> • Martin took quick action after Hurricane Katrina, granting  
> permits so makeshift communications and broadcast systems could get  
> up and running.
>
> • He won a unanimous vote in August to free the regional phone  
> companies' broadband DSL networks of requirements that they share  
> their lines with competing Internet service providers.
>
> [snip]

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