The Federal Communications Commission announced May 30 that Rick Kaplan will step down as chief of its Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, and that Ruth Milkman, currently special counsel to the chairman for Innovation in Government, will succeed him as Bureau Chief. The change will be effective in mid-June.
“For the past three years, Rick Kaplan has been critical in helping us navigate some of the most challenging, complex, and important initiatives at the agency — starting with the DTV transition to all things wireless to complex merger and acquisition reviews,” said FCC chairman Julius Genachowski in a statement to the press.
Kaplan helped lead the agency’s review of major transactions, including Comcast/NBCU, AT&T/T-Mobile, AT&T/Qualcomm, DISH/DBSD & TerreStar and Verizon Wireless’s agreement to purchase spectrum from SpectrumCo. and Cox.
Milkman preceded Kaplan as chief of the FCC Wireless Bureau. She returns to the bureau after serving for the past year as special counsel to the chairman for Innovation in Government. There she led a team to develop proposals for procedural, regulatory and statutory changes to further innovation.
