Dailey thinks Congress didn't fully understood what the outcome of the Telecommunications Act would be. The intent of the bill was to spawn more competition. But, he said, "it actually in many ways resulted in consolidation in the industry."

Pantelis Michaelopolous, a telecommunications law and regulation attorney at Steptoe & Johnson LLP in Washington, called Genachowski's selection "a brilliant choice" because of his combination of industry and regulatory experience. Moreover, "he has proximity, by all accounts, to the president," Michaelopolous said.

He added that Genachowski's experience with start-ups should make him "sympathetic to the plight of new entrants and their efforts to compete on a level playing field" in the market.

The first issue that Genachowski likely would face as FCC chairman is whether to proceed as planned with the , which is due to take effect on Feb. 17. There have been some calls to delay the shift away from analog signals because of concerns that many people in the U.S. for the change.