For the new FCC, less is more Analysis/Commentary The Federal Communications Commission filed a court document in support of AT&T this week in a case about the right of localities to grant high-speed network access to local Internet service providers. The case challenges AT&T and the local government in Portland, Oregon, which wants competing ISPs to have open access to the AT&T cable broadband network there. The FCC usually remains aloof in decisions involving the Net, but currently sides with AT&T because, as the foremost federal telecommunications oversight agency, it alone wants to decide whether ISPs will have open access to expensive new cable broadband networks. For the time being, the FCC feels a policy of open access shouldn't be adopted -- big business competition knows what's best for the public, and localities shouldn't interfere. This week's stance could potentially be seen as big business and big government cooperating to the possible detriment of small business and small government. The FCC came into being through the Communications Act of 1934, serving to regulate radio, telephone, and telegraph; had its powers expanded to satellite activities in 1962; and received an overhaul in 1996. The agency maintains a five-member board, including one member who is chairman. The U.S. President appoints board members every five years and no more than three can belong to a single party. The chairman acts as spokesperson for the government in matters of domestic and international communications, and the agency grants licenses to radio and television stations, sells radio wavelengths, and regulates telephone, cable, and satellite companies. Traditionally, the FCC has monitored industries that don't change from one year to the next. Now, the technology boom in the U.S. has caused the convergence of many diverse technologies. The FCC finds itself navigating blurry divisions between markets. Overall, these developments tend to promote a re-examination of how the agency works. The current chairman, William Kennard, wants to re-define the FCC along functional rather than bureaucratic lines, creating a flatter, more streamlined FCC that will react quickly to industry or public needs. For him, indeed, "less is more." August 18, 1999