Gallagher To Leave NTIA, Report Says

After telling the world that the Bush administration does have a plan to bring broadband to the whole country by 2007, Michael Gallagher apparently won't stick around to see the job finished.

Gallagher, who at the National Telecommunications and Information Association is the Bush administration's point man on matters telecom, will step down from that position in early 2006, according to a report Tuesday by the New York Times. An NTIA spokesman said Tuesday that the Times report "was accurate" and that Gallagher has not revealed any future plans, and that there is no official news about a potential successor.

Gallagher, who had been considered one of the front-runners for the job as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission earlier this year, instead remained at the lesser-known NTIA, an agency that works with other "executive branch agencies" to shape and promote telecom and information-technology policy, such as the allocation of broadcast spectrum, among other fields.

After working as a lobbyist for Verizon, Gallagher joined the Commerce Department in 2001, and became the NTIA leader in November 2004. His most-recent visible act on behalf of the Bush administration was to lead the fight against the establishment of the .xxx domain for pornography sites.