REP. PICKERING CONSIDERING CTIA PRESIDENCY

Rep. Pickering (R-Miss.) is in discussions with CTIA about taking over the presidency, his spokesman said. Pickering is considering an offer from CTIA that his spokesman said was “significant” and was discussing it with his family. Last week, the spokesman said Pickering was honored to be considered by CTIA, but was planning to run for reelection and remain a member of Congress.

Pickering, now in his 4th term, has been known as a “friend to competition” in the telecom sector. Earlier, as an aide to Sen. Lott (R-Miss.), he was said to be very involved with the drafting of the Telecom Act. In bestowing on Pickering the “Champions of Competition” award in Feb., CompTel cited his stand against the Tauzin-Dingell bill. Rob McDowell, CompTel vp-asst. gen. counsel, said Pickering was “quite an expert” on telecom issues and was “substantially capable” of serving in such a position

As co-chmn. of the House Wireless Caucus, Pickering in the last few years has been aligned with several major bills advocated by industry. He was among 50 co-sponsors last year, including House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R- La.), of legislation that directed the FCC to delay the 700 MHz auctions, which were scheduled for June 19, 2002. That bill ultimately passed both chambers.

Last year, he also signed onto a bill that would have compelled the FCC to return remaining deposits of bidders in the NextWave re-auction. The Commission in March 2002 had returned 85% of deposits from that PCS re-auction but concluded that winning bidders should continue to be held to nearly $16 billion in potential auction obligations until the U.S. Supreme Court’s review was finalized. (Last fall, the agency ultimately agreed to let the re-auction winners opt out of their Jan. 2001 bid obligations, before the Supreme Court’s final decision and without congressional action compelling that move.)

Pickering also was among congressional supporters of efforts to relocate the military from 1755-1850 MHz to make way for advanced wireless applications such as 3G. He had been among those advocating that such relocation be contingent upon financial reimbursement to the Dept. of Defense. Last year, DoD agreed to clear most of 1710-1755 MHz as part of an overall 90 MHz that was being made available for advanced wireless services. The Pentagon said freeing 1755-1770 MHz wasn’t possible by 2008. In 2001, Pickering had attempted to include wireless spam in an antispam bill, suggesting that the bill’s scope should be widened to include wireless carriers.

Aside from his involvement in such wireless policy issues on the Hill, Pickering could make sense at CTIA’s helm because the group has been interested in a candidate with Republican credentials, a source said. A short list of candidates whittled down several weeks ago also included names such as Steve Berry, CTIA’s senior vp-govt. relations, and former Rep. Rick White (R-Wash.), who’s now TechNet CEO, the source said, noting that if a sitting member of Congress were offered the job, the timing of an offer would make sense now because that person would need more time to segue out of a Hill seat.

At its annual show in New Orleans in March, CTIA’s board appointed an executive search committee to focus on a successor to Pres. Tom Wheeler, who announced earlier this year that he was planning to leave by year-end. The search committee is chaired by Alltel CEO Scott Ford. Who would fill Wheeler’s post has been closely watched in Washington as he had the highest paid position among communications trade associations at close to $1.3 million, eclipsing the take- home pay even of MPAA Pres. Jack Valenti.