FCC names deputy transition chair for broadcast incentive auction


Details

Michelle Clancy

| 02 June 2016




The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Incentive Auction Task Force has announced that Jean Kiddoo is joining as the Deputy Chair for Transition.



fccWorking with task force chair Gary Epstein and vice chair Howard Symons, Kiddoo will focus on planning for and implementing the post-auction transition. During the transition period, the Commission will reauthorise and relicense the facilities of broadcast television stations that receive new channel assignments. The transition also involves paying winning reverse auction bidders and administering the $1.75 billion relocation reimbursement fund authorised by the Us Congress.

Like the auction itself, the transition will be an interdisciplinary effort that involves multiple bureaus and offices within the Commission and will span several years. Kiddoo’s addition to the task force reflects the Commission’s increasing attention to the transition now that the auction is underway.

“I am thrilled that Jean has agreed to join the Task Force leadership,” said Epstein. “As chairman Wheeler has noted, getting the transition right is as important as getting the auction itself right. Jean will help us ensure that the transition has the focus, attention and cross-bureau coordination it requires.”

Kiddoo has served as deputy chief of the FCC’s Wireless Telecommunications Bureau since 2014, in which capacity she has participated on the Incentive Auction Task Force Steering Committee. She has also overseen the bureau’s Auctions, Broadband, and Mobility Divisions, and has taken a leadership role in coordinating the Commission’s auctions systems, personnel and resources across the various other bureaus and offices.