Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) has been tapped by parent Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) to chair the Senate Communications Subcommittee.  That was no surprise since Wicker has been ranking member of the subcommittee.

The subcommittee had been chaired by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), but Pryor lost his reelection bid and the Democrats lost the Senate and the accompanying chairmanships anyway.

Wicker said his priority as chairman will be "the deployment and adoption of broadband in rural America." And he was not shy about pinpointing that focus, adding "particularly in Mississippi."

"We should focus on fostering innovation and investment in the broadband marketplace, by promoting wireless spectrum availability and reexamining laws on the books to ensure that the dynamic growth Americans have enjoyed continues unimpeded," he said.