Part 1 of a 3-Part Series
Authored by Allison D. Rule, Partner, Marashlian & Donahue, PLLC, The CommLaw Group
In a move predicted by industry insiders, President Trump appointed Ajit Pai as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC” or “Commission”) in the early days of his presidency. Since taking the helm, Chairman Pai has swiftly taken action to roll back a number of Obama era initiatives. Pai’s initial flurry of actions, his vocal opposition to net neutrality, and his well-reasoned, strongly worded dissents to numerous actions of the prior administration provide insight into how the FCC will operate under Chairman Pai’s leadership over the next four years.
This three-part series builds on the predictions made by Jonathan Marashlian in his December 9, 2016 article titled 9 Areas of Communications Law Policy Destined for Material Changes under Trump’s FCC. Specifically, in this series, we will examine a number of the early actions taken by the newly minted chairman and outline additional actions that can be expected from the Pai FCC in the coming years.
The first installment of the series will explore the impact that Pai’s recent actions and stated policy goals will have on consumers and the industry. Part Two of our series will examine changes that can be expected on the enforcement side of FCC regulation, as well as other policy changes being promoted by a Republican-led Commission. Finally, in Part Three, we consider the impact that a Pai FCC will have on developing technologies and the expansion of broadband availability.
