Ex-FCC Chairman to Advise NTT DoCoMo

A former head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will lead a U.S.-based advisory board for Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc., the Japanese mobile telecom carrier said Tuesday.

Michael Powell, who chaired the FCC from January 2001 until May 2005, will be chairman of NTT DoCoMo's fourth U.S. Advisory Board.

The board meets with officials from DoCoMo twice a year in the U.S. and is charged with providing them with updates and thought on global social and economic developments as they relate to DoCoMo's management policy, governance, compliance and corporate communications.

The previous advisory board was established in December 2004 and completed its mission in August 2006.

Powell currently heads his own consultancy group, the MK Powell Group, and is also a senior advisor to Providence Equity Capital. During his time as head of the FCC he presided over one of the biggest shake-ups in telecom as analog services were replaced with digital telecommunications. He is credited with giving consumers the right to keep their phone numbers when switching mobile carriers and with establishing the do-not-call list.

Alongside him on the DoCoMo advisory board will be Fred Bergsten, founder and director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

At its first meeting the board will hear from special guests Paul Laudicina, chairman of the board at A.T. Kearney Inc., and Alex Liu, vice president of communications, media, and high technology at A.T. Kearney, DoCoMo said.