Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell announced January 21 that he will step down from the commission sometime in March.
Powell has served as a Republican member of the commission since November 3, 1997, when the Universal Service Administrative Company was just getting organized and the administration of the E-rate program was being put in place. After President Bush took office in January 2001, Powell was designated commission chairman.
In recent years, Powell, like the rest of the FCC commissioners, has been a strong advocate for the E-rate program. His statement announcing his departure did not indicate what his future plans would be.
