Week ahead: FCC enters new era under Pai

The Federal Communications Commission will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, its first of the year and the first with Ajit Pai as its chairman.

The commission will consider eliminating a regulation that requires commercial broadcasters to keep copies of letters and emails from the public on hand.

Pai has had a busy start to his new role since President Trump tapped him to lead the agency on Monday. Since that time, the FCC has voted to allocate $170 million from its Connect America Fund to boost broadband in rural areas in New York state.

Pai and Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, the other Republican on the panel, also voted in favor of extending by five years a waiver exempting small internet service providers from certain reporting requirements.

{mosads}That order mirrors a bill sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) that passed the House unanimously earlier this month.

Republicans are eager to see the FCC take on a more deregulatory approach with Pai at the helm, especially after years of watching former Chairman Tom Wheeler push through progressive items like net neutrality.

Those rules are likely to be on the chopping block now that the GOP has taken over the legislative and executive branches, but Republican leaders have not revealed how they will tackle the issue.

Walden and his counterpart, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) have both said that they are open to a legislative compromise with Democrats, yet it’s unclear if anti-net neutrality hawks like Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), the new head of a House tech and communications subcommittee, will be on board.

Watch for these developments as the Pai gets settled in and Republican lawmakers reveal their tech agenda.

Conservatives and industry groups are already calling on Congress to repeal the FCC’s privacy regulations on broadband providers, which were implemented through its net neutrality authority.

On Thursday, Blackburn’s panel will hold a hearing on reauthorizing the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

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