President-elect Barack Obama has reportedly picked Julius Genachowski to be the new chief of the Federal Communications Commission.

Mr. Genachowski who helped Obama in the presidential campaign, served as chief counsel to former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt in the 1990s. Obama’s Columbia College and Harvard Law School classmate was also head of business operations at IAC/InteractiveCorp and also co-founded two companies in Washington D.C.: venture investment firm Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital, a company which funds Web startups.

Mr. Genachowski’s appointment is no surprise. The 46-year-old adviser was on Obama’s list for the FCC head or the new White House position overseeing technology issues. Genachowski was a major fund-raiser for the Obama campaign, a top adviser and a basketball buddy.

As FCC head, Mr. Genachowski will regulate telephone, cable and broadcast companies. Thus, he will face the challenges of expanding Internet access, improving emergency wireless communications and managing the national switch to digital television.

The transition to digital television is probably the most challenging of FCC’s issues and will “suck out all the oxygen” at the agency, as Andrew Lipman, a Washington-based partner in the media, telecommunications and technology practice at Bingham McCutchen LLP, put it.

The due date for the transition is February 13, when broadcasters will stop sending analog signal. However, the transition will not affect viewers who subscribe to cable or satellite television services.

Most analysts and industry experts believe that Mr. Genachowski will play an even bigger role than its predecessors at the helm of FCC especially from an economic point of view. That’s because the new presidential administration intends to expand broadband and Internet services and make this an important part of the stimulus package.