Senate Poised to Confirm Conflict of Interest-plagued Biden Nominee

A well-known tech billionaire is trying to exploit his close ties with the Biden White House to line his pockets and use public resources to block out a technology that is providing internet to rural areas and minority communities.  

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, wants the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to give 12 GHZ spectrum to Dish Network. Dell is working with Dish to create a private 5G wireless network, and needs the spectrum – the radio frequency used to carry wireless information for services like TV and radio broadcasting, mobile phones and Wi-Fi to communications systems – in order to launch the network. 

But there are a few problems Dell and Dish have to figure out first. 

For example, the FCC controls spectrum allocation for commercial use. So the FCC will have to decide whether to hand that limited resource over to Dell and Dish to create their network. 

It won’t be an easy case to make since Dish admits that its 5G network – and any mobile devices using the network – would interfere with, and block, internet service being provided by satellite internet companies, including Elon Musk’s Starlink. Satellite internet companies provide internet access to a quarter-million people, including Americans in 48 states. Many of these Americans live in rural and remote areas, like the Appalachian Mountains of southern West Virginia or Native American reservations in Arizona, and wouldn’t otherwise have access to the web. 

In other words, there’s a good chance that if the FCC allows the Dell/Dish 5G network, fewer people may end up with internet access.

This would be particularly problematic for Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) The centrist Democrats represent the states that would be most impacted by the demise of satellite internet, and could be seen as turning their backs on their constituents if their rural areas are left without internet due to an FCC decision. 

To make matters worse, the services provided by satellite internet companies like Starlink wouldn’t just be impacted in America. Musk is subsidizing Starlink services in Ukraine in order to keep the county’s citizens connected, even as Russian troops cut internet access in many areas. A number of other emerging markets that rely on satellite internet service will also lose broad swaths of internet connectivity. 

These are seemingly insurmountable problems that would prevent most companies from ever moving forward with their aggressive plans to build a 5G network. 

But Dell and Dish have a secret weapon: a very close relationship with a shady special interest outfit whose founder is on the verge of becoming an FCC commissioner. 

Public Knowledge, a progressive nonprofit public interest lobbying firm, is a leading voice encouraging the FCC to open up 12 GHz spectrum so that Dish can use it for 5G service. The outfit isn’t taking this stand out of altruism or principle. Public Knowledge admits to receiving more than $50,000 from Dish in exchange for doing the company’s bidding. 

The founder of Public Knowledge is Gigi Sohn, a prominent liberal activist and a former Democratic staffer at the FCC. President Biden recently nominated Sohn to serve on the FCC and she is currently awaiting Senate approval. Obviously, given her ties to Dish, it’s not hard to imagine how Sohn would vote on issues related to spectrum allocation for the proposed Dell/Dish network. 

Sohn’s conflicts of interest don’t end with the relationship between Dish and Public Knowledge. 

Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, which generates research to support government involvement in tech and communications issues, recently joined a coalition lobbying the FCC to free up 12 GHz spectrum for the Dish project,

Sohn serves as a Senior Fellow and Public Advocate for the Benton Institute, earning $127,000 from the organization in 2020. 

Amazingly, Biden continues to stand by her nomination even though Sohn has taken money from organizations funded by the very companies that she will have the opportunity to benefit as an FCC Commissioner.

The Senate, on the other hand, is taking their time confirming her. The delay is understandable. After all, confirming Sohn would turn her from a dubious grifter doing the bidding of any special interest group willing to write the biggest check, to one of the five people who dictate the future of America’s communications policy.

For the sake of the most disadvantaged and underserved residents of their states, Manchin, Sinema and Kelly must oppose Sohn’s nomination and force President Biden to nominate another person who is less problematic.

If, however, the Senate ignores Sohn’s concerning red flags and conflicts of interest and appoints her to serve on the FCC, she should recuse herself from any decision related to allocating spectrum to Dell and Dish. Given the fact that she founded Public Knowledge and has pocketed cash from Benton – both of which are lobbying the FCC to give spectrum to the Dish 5G network – it would be completely inappropriate for Sohn to weigh in on the matter. 

Drew Johnson is a technology policy expert and government watchdog who serves as a scholar at several free market think tanks.