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Federal Communications Commission
445 12th 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

June 15, 2012
Neil Grace, (202) 418-0506
neil.grace@fcc.gov

SHARON GILLETT, CHIEF, WIRELINE COMPETITION BUREAU TO STEP DOWN;

JULIE VEACH NAMED BUREAU CHIEF

(Washington, D.C.) – FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced today that Sharon Gillett will be
departing the Commission and leaving her role as Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau to return to
the Boston area. Julie Veach, currently Deputy General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel, will
serve as Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau, effective June 30.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said, “Sharon is one of a kind, and the FCC's Wireline Competition
Bureau could not have been in better hands over the past three years. She’s a strong leader, an innovative
and data-driven thinker, and a highly effective manager. Her outstanding leadership, including on the
once-in-a-generation overhaul of the Universal Service Fund and so many other important policies, have
significantly helped our country, ensuring more Americans will have access to robust, affordable
broadband and voice services. I wish her the very best in the next step of her career.”
He continued, “Julie will bring her tremendous expertise in telecommunications law, thoughtful insight,
and leadership to bear as Chief of the Wireline Competition Bureau. I am very pleased that she will be
leading the Bureau.”

Staff Bios

Sharon Gillett

is Chief of the Federal Communications Commission’s Wireline Competition Bureau. As
Bureau Chief, she led the Bureau’s work on the Commission’s modernization and reform of the FCC’s
Universal Service Fund, including the High Cost, Lifeline and Link Up, and E-rate programs, as well as
efforts to streamline and reduce the cost of pole attachments. She has also led the Bureau’s work to
advance special access. In addition, Gillett also led staff work on the CenturyLink-Qwest and Frontier-
Verizon transactions before the Commission.
Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Gillett served as the Director of the Massachusetts Broadband
Institute and previously headed the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable. From
1995-2006, Ms. Gillett was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she engaged in
academic research, program management, and teaching focused on Internet and Telecommunications
Policy, with a particular focus on broadband. She is a former software engineer and manager at Thinking
Machines Corp. and BBN Communications Corp, where she worked on ARPANET computer networking
technology.

Julie A. Veach

currently serves as Deputy General Counsel for administrative and general law issues.
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel in 2009, she served as Deputy Chief of the Wireline

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Competition Bureau, where she led many of the Bureau's efforts involving broadband, competition, and
data gathering and analysis. Ms. Veach also held a variety of other positions in the Wireline Competition
Bureau. Before joining the FCC in 2001, Ms. Veach was an associate with the law firm of Wilmer,
Cutler & Pickering, and she clerked for the Hon. Michael S. Kanne of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Seventh Circuit. She graduated magna cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law and holds a
B.A. from Purdue University.
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