From: Randy Burge <burge@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: November 8, 2005 9:09:04 PM PST
To: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: USA Today: FCC's Martin known as consensus builder
<http://www.usatoday.com/money/media/2005-10-30-martin-cover_x.htm>
Martin known as consensus builder
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY
Posted 10/30/2005 10:44 PM Updated 10/30/2005 11:45 PM
On his high school football team, Kevin Martin memorized not just
his own blocking instructions but also those of his forgetful
fellow linemen.
"There may have been guards that were physically stronger and
bigger," says Arthur Baines, a teammate and longtime friend. "But
Kevin understood how he could make a difference."
Now, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Martin,
38, still knows everyone's plays. Those of his FCC colleagues.
Lawmakers. Industry players. Critics.
About Kevin Martin
Age: 38.
Hometown: Waxhaw, N.C.
Education: Bachelor's in political science, UNC-Chapel Hill;
master's in public policy, Duke University; law degree, Harvard
University.
Previous experience: FCC commissioner; special assistant to the
president for economic policy; deputy general counsel to George W.
Bush's presidential campaign; adviser to former FCC commissioner
Harold Furchtgott-Roth; associate to independent counsel Kenneth
Starr in the Whitewater investigation; lawyer, Wiley Rein &
Fielding, a communications law firm.
Personal: Married to Catherine Martin, deputy assistant to
President Bush. The two, who met at Harvard Law School, are
expecting their first child in November.
Hobbies: Golf.
Favorite TV shows: News programs.
Since taking the helm at the FCC in March, Martin has deployed his
gifts as a consensus builder to win a string of bipartisan 4-0
votes. He's also calmed an agency that was sharply polarized under
its previous chairman, Michael Powell.
His latest victory could come as early as today, when the FCC could
approve two mergers that will reshape the telecommunications
industry: SBC's purchase of AT&T and Verizon's acquisition of MCI.
Over the weekend, Martin sought unanimous backing for the deals
from a panel that's evenly split between Republicans and Democrats,
with a fifth seat vacant.
It hasn't been easy. Martin's first plan called for approving the
deals without forcing any concessions from the merger partners. The
Democratic commissioners sought requirements to protect
competition. Sunday night, Martin was on the verge of brokering
pacts to appease the companies and the Democrats, say people with
direct knowledge of the matter.
"Most of the time, people are raising legitimate issues, and if you
can find a way to incorporate those, it only makes the ultimate
decision stronger," Martin, a seasoned Washington lawyer with close
ties to the White House, told USA TODAY.
Says Bruce Mehlman, who worked with Martin when both were young
lawyers, "Kevin's a master of finding ways to structure deals that
have everyone feeling satisfied."
Still, some public-interest advocates remain wary of Martin's
leadership, fearful of a pro-business agenda that could limit
choice and price competition for phone and Internet services. Mark
Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America says he worries that
Martin's political agility could gain bipartisan support for
rulings that only appear consumer-friendly.
"Powell managed to irritate people and was an easier target,"
Cooper says. "The fact that (Martin) is more astute politically is
going to make our job harder."
Moving at a faster pace
But no one disputes this: Martin is racing his agenda through an
FCC that once moved at a glacial pace and often split on partisan
lines. He's done so with a pragmatic streak, a shrewd political
antenna and sharp intelligence, all cloaked in a disarming personal
style.
"He's very gentlemanly and low-key, which belies a very keen mind,"
says Richard Wiley, a lawyer who lobbies Martin on behalf of big
telecom and media companies. "Underestimate him at your peril."
Martin's knack for consensus building will be tested more
rigorously in coming months, as the phone, cable and media
industries increasingly overlap and compete. His challenges include
steering the nation's transition to digital TV; reforming the
shrinking subsidy system that keeps phone service affordable in
rural areas; and maybe passing rules that could expand the reach of
big media companies.
He's also expected to be even tougher on broadcasters that violate
indecency rules than was Powell, whose FCC socked TV and radio
stations with a record $7.7 million in fines last year.
Tough issues ahead for Martin
Media ownership
An appeals court struck down predecessor Michael Powell's plan to
let media conglomerates snap up more outlets. So Kevin Martin must
modify the plan. Public-interest advocates are sure to warn of the
perils of allowing a few giant companies to control the airwaves.
Martin could submit a scaled-down plan that would allow a company
to both own a newspaper and some broadcast stations in the same
market.
"When we try to tee the issues up in bite-size chunks," Martin
says, "we're more likely to continue to make progress."
One option, he says: to confine the looser ownership caps to large
markets with the most media outlets. Martin says the agency could
also target some small markets where mergers would "increase the
amount of news coverage or maintain failing stations or newspapers."
Martin concedes he might not win Democratic support. "The issue is
very complex and very contentious," he says.
Indecency
Martin dissented from several of Powell's indecency rulings; Martin
said the FCC wasn't being strict enough. He's urged cable companies
to build a tier of family-friendly programming. And he's said he
wants to rule simultaneously on a big backlog of indecency
complaints; he'd like to quell criticism that the FCC's line
between indecent and acceptable content is fuzzy. "We both need to
provide clearer direction of where we're headed but be sensitive
that we're not chilling speech," he says.
Broadcasters, meanwhile, might sue to overturn several indecency
rulings.
Digital TV
Martin favors reclaiming broadcasters' analog channels soon so they
can be used to boost public-safety radio communication. But he's
broken with fellow commissioners in saying cable companies should
have to carry broadcasters' multiple new digital channels.
Examples: all-weather or all-news stations. "What local
broadcasters provide in terms of local news and information to the
community is really important," he says.
Universal service fund
The $6 billion fund helps keep phone service affordable in rural
areas. It's financed by a 10% surcharge on all long-distance bills.
But the fund is shrinking fast. That's because consumers are
shifting to wireless calling, e-mail and Internet-based phone
services. Those services contribute less, or nothing, to universal
service. Other FCC officials have called for imposing universal
service fees on all broadband services. Martin has opposed such
broadband regulation.
Instead, he wants to impose a similar charge on all services that
use a phone number — including wireless and Internet-based phone
services.. "We know how many telephones are out there, we have data
on that, and it would be easier from an administrative
perspective," Martin says.
By Paul Davidson
Martin is unapologetic about a deregulatory stance that favors
easing constraints on big phone, cable and media firms. "We prefer
markets over regulation," he says in an interview in his bright
corner office.
At the same time, Martin has been willing to subtly bend his free-
market principles to satisfy FCC Democrats. "I'll try to identify
what seems like a fair way to reach a compromise, but I'll base it
on some standard."
Though Martin and Powell share many similar views, their styles
clash. Powell was a charismatic, expansive chairman who expressed a
free-market ethos in eloquent bursts of rhetoric. Yet his plans to
deregulate the regional phone giants and big media companies were
largely derailed by fellow commissioners, the courts or Congress.
Powell drew criticism that he failed to anticipate political
resistance to his proposals and made scant effort to build
coalitions at the FCC.
Martin is a mild-mannered, self-effacing Southerner whose boyish
looks and round, wire-rimmed glasses remind some of a grown-up
Harry Potter. He favors dark pinstripe suits and speaks in soft
tones. His sentences are often broken by long pauses as he weighs
his words. And Martin revels in consensus building.
"It's like a Rubik's Cube, where you're trying to look at all
different sides," he says.
Powell set the stage for the deregulation of the traditional phone
industry and the emergence of Internet-based phone and wireless
broadband alternatives. But many view Martin as better suited to
the trench work needed to complete that transition.
"People share the view that he's a far more effective politician
and tactician than Michael Powell," says Andrew Schwartzman of the
Media Access Project, which has fought deregulatory efforts.
Among Martin's victories:
• He drew unanimous FCC support to require Internet-based phone
services to offer full-featured 911 service. To defuse potential
opposition from industry players, he humanized the issue. He
invited families who'd had trouble reaching an emergency operator —
including a mother who says her infant died because of the delay —
to speak at the FCC meeting.
"There was no chance that anybody would have anything negative to
say," says Robert Quinn, a vice president at AT&T, which offers an
Internet-based phone service. "He got the job done."
• Martin took quick action after Hurricane Katrina, granting
permits so makeshift communications and broadcast systems could get
up and running.
• He won a unanimous vote in August to free the regional phone
companies' broadband DSL networks of requirements that they share
their lines with competing Internet service providers.
[snip]