Agenda at FCC Depends On Powers of Persuasion
Martin's Negotiating Skills Face Tests in Coming Year

By Arshad Mohammed
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, December 23, 2005

In the nine months since he became chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin J. Martin has pushed through a series of decisions that have made the country's largest phone companies even bigger and, in the view of critics, made it harder for smaller companies to compete with them.

On three major mergers and a string of regulatory decisions, he has persuaded a divided FCC to vote unanimously, testimony to political skills that observers say far outstrip those of his predecessor, Michael K. Powell.

Over the next year, Martin's negotiating abilities will be put to the test as he tries to advance a generally deregulatory agenda and grapples with nettlesome issues such as how to rewrite media ownership rules and how to shore up the government program that subsidizes phone service in rural and poor regions. There is also persistent speculation in the industry that the former college student-body president may someday run for office.

During an interview this week in his office, Martin was disciplined when talking about his policy initiatives, and he demurred when asked if he had ambitions for elective office.

Asked if he might want to serve a second term as FCC chairman, he said: "I am hoping to survive my current term."

In part, Martin's ability to win Democratic votes at the FCC has been a virtue born of necessity because he has led a commission split between two Republicans and two Democrats, with one empty seat. To get anything done, he has had to make compromises.

Martin said he would continue to try to win as many votes as possible for every decision, even when a third Republican joins the commission and gives him a working majority.

"Trying to address the concerns or perspectives of the other commissioners in all of our orders makes our decisions stronger," Martin said. "That's how I approach all of our decision-making and will continue to do that."

Michael J. Copps, one of the FCC's two Democratic commissioners, made clear that he finds it easy to work with Martin.

"I like Kevin Martin as a friend and I trust him as a colleague," Copps said in an interview. "We don't always agree, but we know how to find common ground and get things done."

Martin would not break new ground on many of the hot telecommunications and media issues.

He said he was pleased that major cable companies plan to offer packages of family-friendly programming but said it was unclear whether "consumers are going to be able to see that as an alternative that they will be able to subscribe to."

Some analysts wonder if the packages -- which have been rolled out by both Time Warner Cable and Comcast Corp. -- will be so pared down that they attract few subscribers.

He provided more details on the results of a revised FCC study, saying that allowing cable customers to buy channels individually rather than in packages could in many cases lower cable prices. For digital subscribers, costs could drop by about 2 percent.

Martin said it was too early to write "net neutrality" rules to prevent cable and phone companies from limiting the ability of customers to go to Web sites of their choice. But he said, "I would be concerned about network providers impeding" access to the Web.

He resisted the idea that policies on his watch have led to greater industry consolidation, saying some of the mergers that went through this year were proposed before he became chairman on March 18.

Among its major actions this year, the FCC:

Approved SBC Communications Inc.'s purchase of AT&T Corp., Verizon Communications Inc.'s acquisition of MCI Inc. and Sprint Corp's merger with Nextel Communications Inc.

Required voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) providers to give their customers enhanced 911 service.

Dropped requirements that local phone companies must lease their high-speed DSL lines to Internet service providers at reduced rates.

Some consumer groups said the DSL decision could be the death knell for small Internet service providers. But Martin said it would spur investment in broadband networks and that wireless and power companies will provide more choices over time.

Some critics say the cost of building such networks is so high that competition will not emerge soon.

"Hinging a regulatory policy on the idea that there's going to be numerous competitors in a marketplace with their own facilities . . . it's a great vision to have but I think the emperor's wearing no clothes in this case," said Earl Comstock, president of the CompTel trade group that represents smaller telecom firms and wanted more conditions placed on the mergers.

While by all accounts Martin has worked well with fellow commissioners, former government officials say there is some unhappiness among agency employees over the way Martin has reassigned some senior staff members.

"I worry about some of the personnel moves that Chairman Martin has made in so far as they suggest a concern with loyalty and they don't sufficiently appreciate the role of a dedicated public servant," said Philip J. Weiser, a University of Colorado law professor and former Justice Department telecom expert.

Martin said it was necessary to bring in new people to bring fresh approaches to complicated problems.

At a conference of VOIP executives in September, Jeff Pulver, who helped found the company that later became Internet phone provider Vonage Holdings Corp., suggested that the FCC was being run like the KGB, according to a Pulver aide. Martin made light of the comment at an industry dinner earlier this month, joking that "the KGB-like atmosphere grows on you after a while."

Martin's background, including a stint as deputy general counsel to the Bush campaign in Austin in 1999 and 2000 and his time as student body president at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has fueled some of the speculation that he might some day run for office. Pressed on what he might do when he leaves the FCC and whether he harbors political ambitions, he replied: "I really haven't figured out what I am going to end up doing later on."