Nancy Victory, nominee for NTIA dir., received friendly reception...

Nancy Victory, nominee for NTIA dir., received friendly reception before sparsely attended, brief Senate Commerce Committee nomination hearing Wed., despite recent discussions with govt. ethics officials about potential conflicts of interest. Only 3 Senators were in attendance: Dorgan (D-N.D.), Allen (R- Va.) and Burns (R-Mont.). Victory, until recently attorney with Wiley, Rein & Fielding, told panel that in recent weeks she has met with Office of Govt. Ethics and White House ethics experts to discuss concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Any stock in telecom companies that she had once owned she no longer owns, Victory said in response to questions, particularly from Dorgan. “To the extent that there may be other stocks to sell,” Victory said she will do so. Among stocks that Victory and her husband Michael Senkowski, also Wiley, Rein & Fielding attorney, have reportedly owned included shares in Verizon, Motorola and AT&T. Firms are among those with interest in outcome of 3rd generation wireless proceeding. Wall St. Journal reported Wed. that Senkowski has told govt. ethics officials that he wouldn’t represent companies that have business before NTIA as long as his wife holds post there. NTIA is overseeing 3G policy decisions regarding spectrum such as 1.7 GHz occupied by Dept. of Defense users. Victory told committee that in discussions with govt. ethics experts, they went through, in detail, her and her husband’s investments and personal relationships with industry companies. Victory said that White House ethics experts identified only one matter that she would have to contend with, ultra wideband (UWB) proceeding. Wiley, Rein & Fielding has represented UWB developer Time Domain at FCC in ongoing proceeding. Victory’s own past ties to wireless industry include work that she has done as outside counsel for PCIA. NTIA and FCC have been working through technical details of upcoming rulemaking on UWB, which, aside from 3G, is among biggest issues that NTIA faces. Despite many questions about ethics and her stance on issues such as 3G, all 3 Senators expressed intention to support her nomination. Dorgan asked her “are your intentions to be an activist over there” on broadcast ownership issues. He noted approvingly that former NTIA Dir. Larry Irving had taken up ownership issue every time it was raised by FCC. “I hope I have the opportunity to be an activist,” Victory said. However, she avoided answering question in any detail and instead laid out some of other top issues she expected to tackle as administrator: (1) Spectrum allocation, in which she expressed hope that she could work with industry to increase efficiency of spectrum use. (2) Broadband deployment. Victory said she believed in competition as required by Telecom Act. But regarding rural areas and various legislative proposals to hasten deployment in those areas, she said that may require “a little extra attention.” But she didn’t specify any particular legislative proposals. Regarding reallocation of military spectrum at 1.7 GHz for 3G, she said there are “tremendous emotions on all sides” and valid concerns, as well. Victory said her role would be to encourage dialog between parties and then assess “our most viable options in the time frames needed.” Burns asked her if she knew or could predict what wireless industry would look like in 5 years. Victory said if she knew, “I wouldn’t be vying in this position, I'd be investing in the stock market.”