Senate Sets Markup on Technical Resource Enhancement Act

Bill would allow FCC commissioners to add technical advisers to staff teams

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/17/2010 5:50:41 PM

The Senate Commerce Committee has scheduled a markup for March 24 on a bill to give FCC commissioners more up close and personal time with engineers.

The Technical Resource Enhancement Act, which was introduced last December by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), would amend the Communications Act to allow each commissioner to add a technical advisor to his or her team, so long as they know their stuff.

According to the language of the bill: "Each commissioner may also appoint an electrical engineer or computer scientist to provide the commissioner technical consultation when appropriate and to interface with the Office of Engineering and Technology, Commission Bureaus, and other technical staff of the Commission for additional technical input and resources, provided that such engineer or scientist holds an undergraduate or graduate degree from an institution of higher education in their respective field of expertise."

Currently, the commissioners can appoint three assistants, as well as an administrative assistant and a secretary. It does not preclude any of the three assistants from being an engineer, but currently those posts are already filled by advisors, usually attorneys, to advise on wireless, wireline, broadband, media and other issues, as well as serve as chief of staff.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said the FCC needs to boost its engineering/tech expertise to meet the demands of the increasingly digital media world. Those demands just got more immediate with the March 16 unveiling of the National Broadband Plan, which is essentially the beginning of a years-long process that will require numerous tech-heavy decisions by the commission on issues like spectrum and network management.