What part does the FCC play in the construction of the information superhighway?
The short answer is that we play many roles. Sometimes we function as an architect, other times as a traffic cop. Sometimes we’re the land use planning commission. Sometimes we’re the department of motor vehicles. The Commission was created sixty years ago as an independent regulatory agency. It is not part of the Executive Branch or of the Congress. It is independent. And it is bipartisan. No more than three of the five members may be from a single political party. We have jurisdiction over wired and wireless communications, most notably telephony and broadcasting, but we’re involved with a wide variety of other services as well. In telephony, our jurisdiction encompasses only interstate communications. State power has been preserved over intrastate wired communications. Though independent, the Commission is a creature of Congress. We work within a statutory framework. Our authority is determined by Congress, and Congress provides us with both general and quite specific guidance. As a
