GenachowskiFrom some of the comments espoused by certain members of the D.C. Council yesterday about the on-demand livery sedan service Uber, one couldn’t be blamed for thinking some of the District’s legislators operate from an antediluvian mentality.
But Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is all for the troublemaking car service. In a speech today addressing the growth of the broadband economy, Genachowski held up Uber as a model of innovation that creates competition for a physical product.
While the FCC is concerned primarily with communications networks, Genachowski noted that broadband developments like Uber’s smartphone applications are good for the economy, so long as legislative and regulatory authorities don’t get in the way:
Of course, other government bodies—including state and local agencies— must do their part too, encouraging competition and innovation and certainly not erecting roadblocks. There’s a debate right now in Washington about rules that could discourage the innovative on-demand car service company Uber. Not hard to guess which side I’m on—I’m on the side of innovation.
Genachowski’s praise of Uber today follows on remarks he gave on September 14, when he told TechCrunch that U.S. developers are “killing it” on mobile devices.
“If you think about mobile devices around the world, the percentage of those mobile devices with American-made operating systems has gone from about 10 percent to 80 percent,” Genachowski said.
It’s worth noting, though, that when it comes to his choice of livery service, Genachowski could be a little biased. An FCC press secretary tells DCist the FCC boss is an Uber customer.
