Reed Hundt
Reed Hundt
Reed E. Hundtis probably best known as the chairman of the United States Federal Communications Commission from 1993 to 1997. Appointed by President Bill Clinton, he served for most of Clinton's first term. He was succeeded by William Kennard. Hundt is the CEO of the Coalition for Green Capital and a senior advisor to GTCR, a private equity firm. He is on the board of a number of technology companies, including Intel Corp., and the Connecticut Green Bank. Most...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPublic Servant
Date of Birth3 March 1948
CountryUnited States of America
The public owns the airwaves; Congress gave them to broadcasters for free, with the understanding that they would serve the public interest while trying to maximize profit. An aspect of serving the public is to use the immense power of electronic media to reflect evolving standards of respect for other people.
Isn't it only appropriate that, in return for the free use of the public spectrum, broadcasters provide something substantial, something that wouldn't otherwise be provided by marketplace competition?
Ed's not the type to rely on a lot of glitzy presentation. He's made some huge bets, and I think he's been absolutely right about them. His business decisions speak louder than his words.
Broadcasters don't have any First Amendment obligations or statutory obligations to carry hard-liquor ads. I've been saying, please just say no to this,
Ten years and one month after Congress passed the Telecom Act, Ed's become the biggest winner so far. That's a long time to build a company, and I don't think he's made a bad acquisition along the line, while almost everyone else has.
There's no really good reason why the price for international calls should be so incredibly much higher, ... But we're going to take some very aggressive step to drive that price down.
There's no doubt whatsoever the FCC has jurisdiction in this area. We always have the right and responsibility to investigate any use of the public airwaves that has an effect on the public interest, particularly the interest of children.
There's no doubt whatsoever the FCC has jurisdiction in this area, ... We always have the right and responsibility to investigate any use of the public airwaves that has an effect on the public interest, particularly the interest of children.
Congress has repeatedly passed laws and otherwise raised a ruckus about indecent language on the broadcast airwaves used for radio and television.
Everybody agrees that you want competition. But you have to have rules of fair competition if you want to have competitors to enter the market.
Ed would say that I didn't pass the right rules and that my successors didn't pass the right rules. But the vagaries of regulation have not gotten in the way of his dream, and he's made his business dream come true.
The auction of AWS spectrum is primarily important because it creates the opportunity to change the market structure of the cellular industry.
They are not selling the crown jewels of WorldCom, just some cubic zirconium from MCI.
We still don't have to do this if broadcasters turn down the bags of bucks. A failure of broadcasters to reaffirm the voluntary ban is likely to lead to an outcry that would justify a notice of inquiry.