Federal Communications Com-mission sources confirmed Jan. 21 that Chairman Michael Powell is planning to resign after four years in a position marked by strong government efforts to increasingly deregulate telecom businesses and hyper-accelerate competition. No specific date for Powell’s departure was disclosed. “There will be a written announcement later this morning, but no news conference,” said FCC spokesman David Fiske. That announcement was scheduled to arrive after Satellite News went to press.

The official tenure of the 41-year-old Republican-son of Secretary of State and former general Colin Powell, also departing the White House administration-included plenty of controversy and dynamic debate among bureaucrats, lawmakers, consumer as well as telecom and Internet companies. The news, however, wasn’t entirely unexpected on the streets inside the Washington beltway, but the first report of Powell’s departure was published in the Jan. 21 Wall Street Journal editorial page.

For a closer look on the Powell’s resignation and his legacy within the satellite industry, see our next issue of Satellite News.