Twitter hires telecom expert to head public policy

Former FCC senior counselor and congressional veteran to lead global public policy for Twitter

Twitter announced Monday that it has hired telecommunications expert Colin Crowell as the company’s head of global public policy.

An industry veteran who served for two decades in various congressional positions, Crowell is best known for contributing to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included a charge to the FCC to improve broadband Internet access in the U.S. When the Internet was still very young, Crowell helped construct the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a much-needed update to telecom policy in the U.S., though that was just a start.

Crowell was most recently senior counselor to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, who only had good things to say upon Crowell’s departure last year:

“Colin has been indispensable to every key decision we’ve made and his rare combination of policy smarts, wise counsel, and communications expertise has been invaluable to me and the agency as we developed our broadband agenda for the nation,” said Genachowski.  “He will be missed but I am sure he will continue to contribute his insights into the intersection of innovation and public policy in the next stage of his career.”

After leaving the FCC, the Washington veteran founded Crowell Strategies, a consulting firm offering solutions specifically in Crowell’s areas of expertise: public policy issues and government relations in the area of high-tech communications.

Now, it’s apparent that Crowell has found his biggest client yet in Twitter.

What his responsibilities will entail at this point are a bit unclear, so we’ve reached out to him directly to see if he can shed some light for us. In the meantime, it’s safe to assume that Crowell will assist Twitter--a new and innovative form of communicating--in abiding by telecom laws.

The hiring of Crowell as part of Twitter’s governmental strategy follows its hiring of Adam Sharp last November. Sharp, who had previous experience working at C-SPAN, NBC News and the U.S. Senate, manages government and political partnerships for Twitter.