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Obama poised to name former cable, wireless lobbyist to chair FCC

Published Apr 30th, 2013 4:10PM EDT
FCC Chairman Nominee Tom Wheeler

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The chances that the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission will investigate ISPs’ use of bandwidth caps now seem decidedly slim. Unnamed sources have told The Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obama is poised to nominate Tom Wheeler, a venture capitalist and “former top lobbyist for the cable and wireless industries” to serve as chairman of the FCC. The Journal notes that Wheeler in the past has signaled that he would have been willing to approve the now-dead merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, which puts him at odds with outgoing FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, who was instrumental in blocking the AT&T-T-Mobile deal. Obama is expected to make the announcement as soon as Wednesday, the Journal reports.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.