When Wire Was King captures the story of the telecommunications revolution through the voices of the experts who were present during and participated in this historical period. We conducted interviews for our documentary with the following people:
- Kathleen Q. Abernathy: Former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner and telecommunications executive in the satellite, wireless and wireline industry. Former Georgetown Professor of Law in International Telecommunications.
- Donald I. Baker: Founder and Senior Counsel at Baker & Miller. Former head of the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
- Rear Admiral Jamie Barnett (retired): SVP of Rignet, Inc. Served in a senior role at the FCC.
- Colleen Boothby: Retired Partner; Levine, Blaszak, Block and Boothby LLP. Former senior FCC official.
- Gerald W. Brock: Trachtenberg School of Public Policy & Public Administration, The George Washington University. Former senior FCC official.
- Vinton G. Cerf: Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google and one of the fathers of the internet.
- Sharon West Coffey: Consultant and Lobbyist who actively worked for competition in the 1970s.
- Gerald Connell: Lead Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in U.S. v AT&T
- Matthew J. Desch: CEO, Iridium and telecommunications executive.
- Michele Farquhar: Managing Partner, Hogan Lovells. Served as a senior official at the FCC and the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
- Ambassador Brian Fontes: CEO, National Emergency Number Association. Former FCC senior official and former Chair of the Bosnian Communications Commission.
- Henry Goldberg: Founder; Goldberg, Godles, Wiener and Wright LLP and held Senior Positions in the Nixon White House’s Office of Telecommunications Policy
- Dale Hatfield: Executive Fellow, Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology and Entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and served as acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and Acting Administrator of NTIA and as senior FCC official. Advised the Nixon White House on telecommunications issues.
- Thomas W. Hazlett: Hugh H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics in the John E. Walker Department of Economics at Clemson University . Was a senior official at the FCC.
- Brian Lamb: Founder and Executive Chairman, CSPAN. Served in the Nixon Administration’s Office of Telecommunications Policy.
- Lon Levin: President and CEO, GEO-Share. Has served in executive positions in the telecommunications industry as well as worked at the FCC.
- Ruth Milkman: Partner, Quadra Partners LLC. Has held senior positions at the FCC including working on the early internet proceedings .
- William Marmon: Retired. Served in senior roles at MCI.
- John Nakahara: Partner; Harris, Wiltshire and Grannis. Has held senior positions at the FCC including working on the early internet proceedings.
- Ambassador Janice Obuchowski: President, Freedom Technologies; former Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information at the Department of Commerce and served at the FCC.
- Morgan O’Brien: Executive Chairman of the Board of Anterix. Co-Founder and Former Chairman of Nextel and former FCC staffer.
- Bruce Owen: Morris M. Doyle Centennial Professor in Public Policy Emeritus; former Director of the Public Policy Program, Stanford University. Served in the Nixon White House’s Office of Telecommunications Policy.
- Gary Parsons: CEO, NextNav. Served as executive at MCI.
- Jon M. Peha, Ph.D.: Professor, Carnegie Mellon University. Has held senior positions at the FCC, the White House and on Capital Hill.
- Robert Pepper, Ph.D.: Global Connectivity and Technology Policy, Facebook. Former senior FCC official as well as serving in senior roles in telecommunications companies.
- Michael Powell: former FCC Chairman; current President and CEO, National Cable and Television Association
- George Saunders: Retired lawyer. Served as AT&T’s counsel during the U.S. v. AT&T case.
- Anne Swanson: Partner; Wilkinson, Barker, Knauer LLC.
- Ed Thomas: Technologist. Served in a senior position at the FCC and also at NYNEX, a former Bell Operating Company and AT&T.
- Ambassador Phil Verveer: Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, former senior FCC official and served as staff attorney for the Department of Justice's Anti-Trust Division.
- Margaret Whitehead, Ph.D.: Board Member Hudson Institute. Held senior positions at the White House and the Department of Labor.
- Timothy Wirth: former U.S. Congressman and Senator. Instrumental in holding hearings concerning the AT&T monopoly.