San Jose mayor resigns from FCC advisory panel

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo has reportedly quit a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) advisory committee that focuses on broadband deployment.

Liccardo accused the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee of providing policy recommendations that give internet service providers “a very favorable hand,” Axios reported.

“It has become abundantly clear that despite the good intentions of several participants, the industry-heavy makeup of [the committee] will simply relegate the body to being a vehicle for advancing the interests of the telecommunications industry over those of the public,” Liccardo said in his resignation letter.

He told Axios that it is “obvious that this body is going to deliver to the industry what the industry wants.”

The committee was created last year by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, who issued a statement following the resignation.

“The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee and its working groups have brought together 101 participants from a range of perspectives to recommend strategies to promote better, faster, and cheaper broadband. Bridging the digital divide continues to be my top priority, and I look forward to continuing to work with [the committee] and many others to remove regulatory barriers to broadband deployment and to extend digital opportunity to all Americans,” Pai said.

Pai said earlier this week during a two-day meeting of the committee that he’s “long said that every American who wants to participate in the digital economy should be able to do so.”

“And the plain reality is that if you live in rural America, you are much less likely to have high-speed internet access than if you live in a city,” Pai said.

“If you live in a low-income neighborhood, you are less likely to have high-speed internet access than if you live in a wealthier area.”

Liccardo, who is running for reelection, said his decision to resign was not influenced by politics.

Updated: 11:23 a.m.