Outgoing FCC Chairman Reflects On Tenure

Julius Genachowski (NPR)

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski stewardship of the agency ends today, and after more than four years dealing with issues such as broadband, wireless and media consolidation Genachowski, 50, is going off the grid for awhile. He and his family are high-tailing it to a western dude ranch, according to a story at USA Today.

When Genachowski announced plans to step down, says Rob Atkinson, president of the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation, "you had all the left-wing public interest advocates complaining about him and then he had libertarian free market groups (saying), 'Oh, he was too interventionist.' In that sense, I think he got it right, because he was able to win his way through that."

Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro dubbed Genachowski "the Spectrum Chairman" for recognizing the need for additional bandwidth to appease the growing mobile connectivity appetite. A challenge for the successor at the FCC will be to execute the auction of spectrum hoped to be regained from the return of some digital TV over-the-air broadcast airwaves.

After hitting the trail, Genachowski plans to remain involved in the technology discussion. He'll become a senior fellow at The Aspen Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based non-partisan think tank.

Much of the outgoing chairman's books and other belongings were already packed when Genachowski took time to talk with USA TODAY.

Q: What achievements are you most proud of?

A: Focusing the FCC on broadband and unleashing the opportunities of high-speed Internet. In terms of broadband speeds, the U.S. has gone from (being ranked) 22nd to 8th (in the world) in the last four years. We have laid more fiber in the last two years than we did in any (single) year since 2000. We continue to have a lot of work to do. We are in a fast-moving sector, a global landscape where our competitors around the world all want to be the center of innovation. The agency will need to continue to focus on driving faster broadband speeds and capacity.

President Obama's appointed successor, Tom Wheeler, awaits Senate confirmation. Meanwhile, current Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will serve as acting chair.

Genachowski's advice for Wheeler: "Learn everything, and do the right thing."

Read More Now.