TMCnet News
FCC Commissioner Abernathy to Resign, Effective Dec. 9By ROBERT LIU Republican FCC Commission Kathleen Abernathy has resigned, effective December 9, the federal agency announced on Thursday. The widely anticipated announcement will once again level the political landscape at the chief regulatory body, which governs all telecommunications and media activities in the U.S.
The move comes only one week after the Bush Administration named Deborah T. Tate to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Michael K. Powell and the ascendance of Kevin Martin to the position of FCC Chairman. In a letter sent Wednesday, Abernathy thanked President Bush for the opportunity to serve as commissioner and reviewed her accomplishments during her 4-1/2-year tenure.
“First and foremost, our decisions increasingly reflect the wisdom of relying on competition, rather than regulation, as the best means of assuring that consumers get the telecommunications services they want at affordable rates,” she wrote.
“Our largely market-driven approach to advanced services has helped create a vibrant market for new wired and wireless telecommunications products, and our spectrum reform initiatives have improved our ability to put this scarce resource to its most effective use.”
But while Republicans will eventually hold majority control of the FCC enabling the Bush Administration to forge ahead on its agenda to champion big business and free trade, Chairman Martin in the short-term will actually be outnumbered by the two remaining Democrats – Commissioner Michael Copps and Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein – following Abernathy’s departure. That’s because observers inside the Beltway don’t believe Tate will likely be confirmed until after the New Year leaving Martin in a 2-1 minority.
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Robert Liu is Executive Editor at TMCnet. Previously, he was Executive Editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. For more articles, please visit Robert Liu's columnist page.
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