FCC Changing Name of Wireless Division

The FCC is planning to change the name of the Wireless Bureau's Spectrum And Competition Policy division to the Competition and Infrastructure Policy division.

That is to reflect the division's increasing focus on infrastructure. and the work it already does in that area, said an FCC source speaking on background, but is not a signal of any less attention to spectrum, particularly as regards transactions and competition policy. The source pointed out that the other divisions without spectrum in their names, mobility, broadband, auctions, have plenty to do with spectrum without including them in the moniker.

Not surprisingly, PCIA-The Wireless Infrastructure Association was quick to applaud the move. " The new name reflects this Commission’s commitment to strengthening wireless infrastructure deployment," said PCIA President Jonathan Adelstein, himself a former FCC commissioner.

“The move signals the recognition that wireless infrastructure is integral to America’s economic and technological future," said Adelstein.

The name change was signaled by Roger Sherman, Chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, at the FCC’s Environmental Compliance and Historic Preservation Review Training session Tuesday (May 12).

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.