Obama tech appointments seen coming soon

By Kim Dixon

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Barack Obama, whose campaign used text messaging and the Internet to raise millions of dollars, is expected to announce key technology appointments as early as this week.

Industry lobbyists, consumers groups and other advocates are waiting for Obama to pick someone to head the Federal Communications Commission and to fill a new job of chief technology officer for the federal government.

"It is a great opportunity ... to be named by a president who lives and really loves technology," said William Kennard, head of the FCC under former President Bill Clinton and now a partner at the private equity firm, the Carlyle Group.

Top candidates for FCC chairman include Julius Genachowski, a classmate of Obama's at Harvard Law School, and Blair Levin, most recently an investment advisor. Both were high-level staff at the FCC under Clinton, and both are now advising Obama.

Sonal Shah, head of global development at Google Inc, is also advising Obama on telecom issues during the transition.

"President-elect Obama will take office with an administration sort of infused and motivated by this wonderful appreciation of how technology can change the country," Kennard said on Monday at a telecoms regulation conference.

The FCC oversees U.S. telecommunications regulation and policy. Its reach includes regulation of telephone and cable companies; oversight of concentration of ownership of radio, television outlets, and auctioning public airwaves.

By all accounts, the FCC's biggest immediate challenge is ensuring the congressionally-mandated conversion to digital television on February 17 goes smoothly, a switch affecting some 20 million consumers who don't already use the technology. Owners of older television sets receiving over-the-air signals must buy a converter box, replace their TV with a digital TV, or subscribe to satellite or digital cable service.