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Dec. 23, 2008

Due to the Holiday season, President-Elect Obama isn't expected to announce a new FCC Chairman until January or even February 2009.

However, in the wireless industry, speculation is rampant as to who the next Chairman might be.

Reliable sources inside the FCC said a week ago that the replacement for current Republican Chairman Kevin Martin who was recently accused of abusing his power but whose role as Chairman would almost certainly end under Obama regardless, would probably be Jonathan Adelstein or Michael Copps, who are the existing Democratic commissioners.

Most FCC insiders and a few Congressmen on Capitol Hill agree that Copps will get the nod as interim chairman until a firm decision is made in January.

At the same time, Martin could potentially remain as a commissioner until his term ends June 30, 2011, although that is very unlikely.

Meanwhile, Julius Genachowski's name recently surfaced again in the Washington Post.

Genechowski, a venture capitalist, attended Harvard Law School with Obama. He was chief counsel to FCC chairman Reed Hundt in the mid-1990s and currently is technology adviser to the presidential transition team.

Other potential FCC chair candidates are Julia Johnson, a consultant who advocates for independent and minority content, along with Mignon Clyburn, a current commissioner for the South Carolina Public Service Commission and daughter of House Majority "Whip" Jim Clyburn.

Other names "thrown in the gossip mill" are Don Gips, Scott Blake Harris, Blair Levin, Larry Strickling which are all industry veterans with close ties to former FCC chairmen or to Barack Obama.

A long list of other academics and current transition team members also have been suggested, but the list is too long to publish here.

As we said earlier, speculation is rampant and we're almost certain that in the mean time, there will be a lot more rumors as to who the new FCC Chairman will be under Presedint-Elect Obama's leadership.

Stay tuned to this site for more coverage.

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    This article was featured on Business 5.0 and on Tech Blog.

Source: BRN.