John Muleta: After two FCC stints, he's back in the business of telecom. The ex-chief of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau now co-chairs the communications group for law firm Venable. Meet the new John Muleta: law man.

One thing I have been consistent about is that I want to spend my life and my career in telecommunications. So I have always looked for opportunities to help me grow and understand the business. As a consultant, I learned about operations. On the regulatory side, I learned all the macro issues. When I was out there hustling on my own, it helped me understand what matters and how to take care of people. I was even with a high-flying Internet company and watched all those dynamics. It was highly educational.

I am proud to have served in the government and with the amount of work we accomplished in two short years. We got a lot of spectrum out into the market and resolved a lot of the thorny issues. But I met my requirement, and it's time now to be in a firm that has the resources to play in all areas at the same time. Venable is the right fit. They have strong practices in intellectual property, consumer marketing, advertising and the FTC. We're looking at a world not just of wireless carriers, but of information service providers or anyone using the wireless format to reach out to consumers.

And wireless will be the winner. There is a real sense that broadband wireless is going to be a real viable option, and a lot of investment is going into those businesses. [FCC] Chairman Martin supported our efforts in the wireless bureau the last two years, so the only difference I can see from the regulatory side is that there are less regulatory issues. At this point, it's more about execution. It's more about rolling out stuff and getting equipment in and getting standards set.

There are restrictions on what I can do in front of the commission. I have a one-year cooling off period. So if clients have to go to the FCC and make a case, hopefully I can help them strategize for that. As we build the communications practice, we will try to learn what people want to do with their business and help them get there. Whatever it takes. The pinnacle of being a good lawyer is to have people rely on you, and hopefully, that's where we'll end up.

I ended up here thanks to a professor I had. It's been 20 years, and I'm enjoying it immensely. My personal action item is to continue to do that.