Tom Wheeler, the new chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has been making headlines since he became the chair for wading into consumer issues such as whether mobile phones should be unlocked or be usable on planes.
But the former venture capitalist who has also worked in the cable and wireless industry stopped at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View to talk about encouraging competition, and other issues.
But first, advocates for curtailing the use of mobile phones because of health concerns disrupted the chair’s speech with one accusing him and the FCC of not caring about people dying. Wheeler broke from script to say that the FCC’s role is to consider health studies. “Safety is a paramount concern to all of us,” he said.
His main thrust though was to talk about the voluntary incentive auctions of spectrum, the first since 2008, as Twice notes.
Wheeler appealed to Silicon Valley to help broadcasters see the benefits of selling spectrum. He wanted to “highlight for those in this valley who may have designs on using spectrum that their business models depend on helping others to see that digital opportunity for their broadcast business models.”
Above: Tom Wheeler, chair of the FCC. (Pool photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images via Abaca Press/MCT)
Michelle Quinn is a Business Columnist at the San Jose Mercury News. Prior to her current role, she was the Silicon Valley correspondent at Politico covering tech policy and politics. She has also covered the tech industry at the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. She was a blogger for the New York Times.
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