WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- President-elect Barack Obama plans to name venture capitalist Julius Genachowski as U.S. Federal Communications Commission chief, a Democratic official said.
Genachowski was an architect of Obama's wildly successful Internet outreach efforts and a one-time chief counsel to former FCC chairman Reed Hundt, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
If he receives Senate confirmation, Genachowski would take over the FCC under an administration that wants to increase nationwide access to high-speed Internet service, the Times said. Genachowski would succeed Republican Kevin Martin.
The FCC is among the agencies that monitors the nation's Internet capacity. It also is one of the agencies overseeing the federally mandated switch to all-digital broadcast television. Obama's transition team chairman last week urged Congress to delay the Feb. 17 switchover because a voucher program to help consumers transition from analog to digital and defray out-of-pocket consumer costs ran out of money.
