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US Senate confirms McDowell for FCC seat

By Jeremy Pelofsky
Reuters
Updated: 5:09 p.m. ET May 26, 2006

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate Friday confirmed telecommunications lawyer Robert McDowell to fill the third Republican seat on the Federal Communications Commission, breaking the 2-2 deadlock at the agency.

The five-member FCC regulates the telecommunications and media industries and the arrival of McDowell as the third Republican would enable the agency to move forward with a review that could lead to easing media ownership restrictions.

McDowell, 42, has been a lawyer for Comptel, a trade association that represents telephone and Internet companies that compete against bigger carriers like AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications. The Senate approved McDowell by unanimous consent and he fills a seat that expires in 2009.

The FCC has been tied with two Republicans -- FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate -- and two Democrats - Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein.

As a result, Martin has had to broker some deals with the Democrats to advance policy decisions and to approve acquisitions. Last year, he acquiesced to conditions sought by the Democrats so that two large telecommunications deals could be approved.

He also delayed the review of media ownership rules when he was unable to reach an agreement with the Democrats. Martin backs easing a ban preventing a company from owning a newspaper and a television or radio station in the same market.

"I am anxious to have him onboard and look forward to working with a full complement of commissioners to address the important issues before us," Martin said in a statement.

The FCC has several major transactions pending, including the sale of bankrupt cable company Adelphia Communications Corp. to bigger rivals Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Inc.

The commissioners must also decide on the proposed purchase of the No. 3 local telephone company BellSouth Corp. by AT&T, the No. 1 U.S. telephone carrier.

It was not immediately clear if McDowell would have to recuse himself from voting on the AT&T deal because of his work for Comptel, but he pledged during his Senate confirmation hearing to start the FCC job with a clean slate.

"Rob's expertise and experience will be an asset to the commission as it tackles a variety of critical communications issues in the future," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, who had backed McDowell's nomination.

Stevens' committee is working on legislation to overhaul U.S. communications laws and make it easier for AT&T and Verizon to get licenses to offer subscription television service.

"The FCC will be required to implement portions of our communications bill, and it is essential it has a full complement of commissioners," said Stevens.

Paul Gallant, an analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group, said McDowell could be a swing vote and his early steps would be closely watched on key issues like video licensing and Internet access.

"His arrival should be welcome news in the area in telecom and media deals," Gallant said.
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