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 NEWS  News  media  Information  202  /  418-  0500  TTY  202  /  418-  2555  Fax-  On-  Demand  202  /  418-  2830  Internet:  http://  www.  fcc.  gov  ftp.  fcc.  gov  Federal  Communications  Commission  445  12  th  Street,  S.  W.  Washington,  D.  C.  20554  This  is  an  unofficial  announcement  of  Commission  action.  Release  of  the  full  text  of  a  Commission  order  constitutes  official  action.  See  MCI  v.  FCC.  515  F  2d  385  (D.  C.  Circ  1974). 
 FOR  IMMEDIATE  RELEASE:  News  Media  Contact:  April  7,  2003  Lauren  M.  Van  Wazer 
 (202)  418-  0030  e-  mail:  lvanwaze@  fcc.  gov 


 JIM  SCHLICHTING  TO  BECOME  DEPUTY  CHIEF  OF  THE  OFFICE  OF  ENGINEERING  AND  TECHNOLOGY 
 Washington,  DC  –  Ed  Thomas,  Chief  of  the  FCC’s  Office  of  Engineering  and  Technology  (OET)  has  announced  that  Jim  Schlichting  will  become  a  Deputy  Chief  of  OET.  Ed  stated  on  Jim’s  appointment,  “I  am 
 delighted  that  Jim  is  joining  our  office.  I  am  certain  that  his  vast  experience  and  keen  legal  mind  will  be  of  great  benefit  to  OET.” 


 Most  recently,  Schlichting  served  as  a  Deputy  Bureau  Chief  in  the  Commission’s  Wireless  Telecommunications  Bureau.  In  that  position  he  oversaw  the  Bureau’s  Policy  and  Commercial  Wireless 
 Divisions.  Those  two  Divisions  have  been  generally  responsible  for  many  of  the  Bureau’s  rulemaking  policy  proceedings  relating  to  commercial  wireless  services;  the  licensing  of  commercial  mobile  wireless 
 services;  and  the  review  of  mobile  wireless  license  transfer  issues  involved  in  merger  transactions.  Those  proceedings  have  included  those  implicating  the  competitive  provision  of  commercial  wireless  services  as 
 well  as  those  affecting  wireless  consumers,  such  as  the  provision  of  wireless  basic  and  enhanced  911  services. 


 Prior  to  his  position  in  the  Wireless  Bureau,  he  served  as  Deputy  Chief  of  the  FCC's  Common  Carrier  Bureau,  with  particular  responsibility  for  policy  issues  related  to  common  carrier  pricing  and  universal 
 service.  Previously,  he  served  as  Chief  of  that  Bureau's  Competitive  Pricing  Division,  which  was  responsible  for  developing  and  implementing  policies  for  reforming  the  Commission’s  interstate  access  charge  and  price 
 cap  rules  in  light  of  the  new  competitive  paradigm  of  the  1996  Act.  Before  that,  Schlichting  was  Chief  of  its  Policy  and  Program  Planning  Division  for  six  years,  when  it  was  responsible  for  Commission  common 
 carrier  policy  issues  in  such  areas  as  interexchange  competition,  interstate  access  charges,  enhanced  services,  video  dialtone,  and  the  emergence  of  competition  to  local  telephone  companies. 


 Schlichting  has  been  at  the  FCC  since  August  1985.  Before  becoming  Chief  of  the  Common  Carrier  Bureau’s  Policy  Division,  he  served  as  Special  Counsel  for  Domestic  Policy  in  that  Division,  and  as  Legal 
 Advisor  on  common  carrier  issues  to  FCC  Chairman  Dennis  R.  Patrick.  In  1986,  Schlichting  was  co-  author  of  a  law  review  article  entitled  "Back  to  the  Future:  A  Model  for  Telecommunications,"  38  Fed.  Comm.  L.  J. 
 145.  Before  coming  to  the  Commission,  Schlichting  was  an  attorney  with  the  law  firm  of  Wilmer,  Cutler  &  Pickering,  where  he  worked  on  telecommunications  and  litigation  matters. 


 Schlichting  received  his  B.  A.  degree  from  Yale  University,  summa  cum  laude,  and  his  J.  D.  degree,  magna  cum  laude,  from  the  Harvard  Law  School.  He  also  received  a  research  certificate  in  history  from 
 Cambridge  University,  and  served  as  law  clerk  to  Judges  Tone,  and  then  Swygert,  on  the  U.  S.  Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Seventh  Circuit  in  Chicago. 


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