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Why the Google/Apple/AT&T probe? FCC chair is an iPhone user

He’s only been in post a month, but new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Julius Genachowski, ain’t no slouch – he’s a tech-savvy consumer champion and he wants to foster a culture of competition and innovation – and he’s an iPhone user.

Perhaps that’s why Genachowski’s been so quick to act over Apple’s rejection of the Google Voice app, which most commentators still believe – despite AT&T’s rejection of the argument – was denied a place in the App Store because its users would be able to make calls with Google, circumventing AT&T’s network and impacting the telco’s revenue.

Whatever the reason, and with the FCC determined to press on with its investigation into the rejection of that app, Genachowski’s no enemy of Apple – in fact he’s warming to his iPhone, as revealed in an interview published today by GigaOM.

“I do have an iPhone. I do use it,” he admits, adding, “Now I’ve been a BlackBerry user for a very long time. But now I have a BlackBerry and an iPhone and I’m using both, although I do need a pair of new pants with more pockets.”

Genachowski also admits he’s making increasing use of his iPhone. Perhaps to call some of the engineers, scientists and entrepreuners he wants to see taking some of the top jobs at the regulator, which has drawn heavily on lawyers in the past.

iPhone talk aside, it’s well worth taking a look at the extended interview, which talks a lot about how regulation and the needs for it are changing in the current century. And how he intends transforming the FCC from its previous fairly moribund status into a poster child for how US government agencies could work.

Read it here.

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