The direction of the Federal Communications Commission during a second Obama Administration will be decided in two places: In the chairman's office, which could have a new occupant next year, and in federal court, where cases are pending that challenge the F.C.C.'s authority over broadband service, Internet traffic and wireless data.
Julius Genachowski, the F.C.C. chairman since 2009, made the expansion of broadband service a priority during his tenure, but the next chairman will face formidable foes in efforts to free up more airwaves, or spectrum, for use by wireless phone companies.
Two of the biggest potential sources of repurposed spectrum are television broadcasters and the military, and neither has eagerly embraced the prospect of giving up or sharing significant swaths of their current airwaves.
Wireless companies have been clamoring for additional spectrum to accommodate data-hungry applications and devices, however, and the F.C.C. has started t he process of designing spectrum auctions that would direct some of the auction proceeds to broadcasters that turn over their licenses.
But for any company that provides telephone service, cellphone plans or Internet connections, some of the industry's biggest questions could be answered not at the commission but in court.
Telecommunications companies have challenged the F.C.C.'s authority to adopt rules governing how Internet service providers manage their networks and enforce what is known as net neutrality. Also under fire are F.C.C. rules that require big companies like AT&T and Verizon to offer use of their data networks to customers of competing companies while they are roaming out of their service area.
And small, rural phone companies are fighting the commission's right to overhaul the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes for otherwise-uneconomical rural phone service, for use to build broadband networks.
All three cases are pending before federal appeals courts. Gigi B. Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group, said that because the cases all dealt with next-generation communications, if the F.C.C. were to lose all three of three cases, “we could be looking at an agency that's almost irrelevant.â€
F.C.C. officials say nearly all of its significant actions are challenged in court, and it wins a large majority of cases. They are confident they will prevail in the current disputes.
Commission officials say Mr. Genachowski, who has been falsely rumored to be departing imminently for more than 18 months, has no plans to depart. But outsiders note that F.C.C. chairmen rarely remain in place for more than four years; not since the Reagan administration has one done so.
James Gattuso, a senior fellow for regulatory policy at the Heritage Foundation, said the current chairman began returning the F.C.C. to “a less partisan attitude,†one that companies hope will continue under a new chairman.
The agenda at the F.C.C., an independent regulatory agency, is set by the chairman, and he depends on the 3-2 split by party of the five-member board to further his initiatives.
And it is “he†â€" so far, no woman has ever served in the top spot. That has some F.C.C. followers convinced that one of the two other Democrats on the commission - Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon L. Clyburn â€" could get the job.
