(Adds background on Wheeler, FCC)
WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will nominate venture capitalist and former wireless and cable lobbyist Tom Wheeler on Wednesday to head the Federal Communications Commission, according to a White House official.
Wheeler, whose nomination has been widely expected for months, has advised Obama on telecom policy and helped raise large sums for his presidential campaigns.
In Washington, he is well-known figure who spent years running the National Cable Television Association and then the wireless industry group CTIA.
"Tom Wheeler is an experienced leader in the communications technology field who shares the president's commitment to protecting consumers, promoting innovation, enhancing competition and encouraging investment," the White House official said.
Democratic Commissioner Mignon Clyburn will take over as acting chair of the FCC, which regulates U.S. media and telecommunications, until the Senate confirms Wheeler's nomination, the official said.
Current FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has yet to specify the date of his departure but is expected to leave the FCC for the Aspen Institute think tank in coming weeks.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Alina Selyukh; Editing by Sandra Maler and Carol Bishopric)
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