- Sources say she’s a conscientious, hard worker
- The expectation is her nomination will sail through the Senate
- Industry insiders are hopeful the new administration and Congress will work together to release more licensed spectrum
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is set to step down next week, leaving a vacant position to fill. But who is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the FCC’s fifth seat?
Fierce wasn’t able to talk with Trump FCC nominee Olivia Trusty directly, but sources tell us that she’s a whip-smart, hardworking Capitol Hill staffer who is well qualified for the job. Her roles as a staffer in both the House and Senate indicate she knows the players and the issues that are near and dear to the telecom industry.
“She’s straight forward. She’s extremely collegial and easy to work with. Anything you hear that’s praising her is legitimately true,” said one industry insider who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Already, she’s had a distinguished career on the Hill and in the private sector, including serving at both the Commerce Committee and the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. Senate, said incoming Republican FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who will be setting the FCC’s agenda for the foreseeable future.
“Her extensive knowledge, public sector experience and keen intellect will serve her well at the agency,” Carr said in his statement.
Trusty is a longtime staffer for Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who endorsed her for the open FCC position last year. Rosenworcel announced in November that she would be leaving the commission on January 20.
Earlier in her career, Trusty worked as a policy advisor at Verizon and Qwest before joining the staff of Congressman Bob Latta (R-Ohio) in 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also has experience in cybersecurity, as The National Law Review notes. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Georgetown University.
Of course, as predictable as flags on inauguration day, Washington, D.C., lobbying groups came out with high praise for the nominee as they’re likely to be visiting her office quite often during the coming administration.
Trusty’s nomination is expected to pass the Senate. In a note for investors Friday, New Street Research analyst Blair Levin said Trusty will easily get Senate confirmation and be a “safe vote” for incoming Chairman Carr.
The FCC’s majority membership traditionally reflects the party of the incoming administration, although outgoing chair Rosenworcel headed the agency without a majority for much of her term.
Movement on lower 3 GHz?
Interestingly, Arielle Roth is expected to be named as head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which oversees the government’s use of spectrum. Roth has served as telecom policy director for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
Last year, Cruz and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) introduced the Spectrum Pipeline Act, which would reinstate the FCC’s auction authority and require NTIA to identify at least 2,500 megahertz of mid-band spectrum that could be reallocated from federal use to non-federal or shared use.
During his Verdict podcast last year, Cruz said he will make it a top priority to open the airwaves to the private sector when he takes over as chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, as the Houston Chronicle reported.
The Department of Defense (DoD) often gets blamed for preventing the FCC’s auction authority from being reinstated because it doesn’t want to give up any spectrum in the lower 3 GHz band, which the wireless industry has been eyeing for several years. CTIA has said it only needs a portion of the band – 150 MHz between 3.3 and 3.45 GHz – for carriers’ licensed use.
New Street’s Levin told Fierce last year that the DoD’s refusal to give up any spectrum in the lower 3 GHz and the resultant spectrum stalemate are unlikely to change under the new administration. The DoD’s political power is too significant in D.C. to make it budge.
But some wireless industry insiders are optimistic that the new administration and Congress will be able to make inroads where the Biden administration could not. They point to Trump’s spectrum initiatives in his first administration and to programs like deportation that require a lot of money to carry out. Spectrum auctions remain a significant source of funds for the U.S. Treasury. The C-band auction ended with bids totaling more than $80 billion.
“They [DoD] have gotten away with just saying ‘no,'” said another industry insider who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I think we’ve got an incoming administration and an incoming Congress that is not going to take ‘no’ for the answer anymore.”
