Last Few Weeks a Sprint to Issue Orders, Pai Says

Ajit Pai, who leaves the FCC Wednesday, had one of the busiest conclusions to a chairmanship in recent history as he closed out many items. That was deliberate, Pai said in an interview. We’re “sprinting to the finish," he said Friday evening. Pai said all the big things he wanted to do he started in his first three years. “We didn’t want to leave significant items lingering out there for the last year,” he said: “Things can fall through the cracks before you know it.”

Pai said he avoided a declaratory order on Communications Decency Act Section 230 because the FCC needs to take comment first. “Although we recognized that a declaratory ruling was one of the avenues, nonetheless, it seemed the optimal route was to go through the traditional notice and comment process,” he said. “There wasn’t sufficient time to resolve those administrative steps … prior to Jan. 20.”

Pai doesn’t worry that much of his work as chairman will be reversed after Democrats take control. “There are a couple of issues, like net neutrality, where the dividing line is relatively sharp,” he said. “On the overwhelming majority of the agenda that we’ve pursued over the past four years, we’ve had bipartisan support.” Pai cited 5G security, 6 GHz for Wi-Fi and vertical location of wireless calls to 911: “I’ve worked very hard to forge consensus.”

On net neutrality, “the solution here is quite obvious” -- Congress needs to legislate, Pai said. “Congress should put on the page the basic principles of an open network that all of us agree on -- no blocking, no throttling, no anti-competitive paid prioritization, transparency with respect" to ISPs.

The problem is some won’t accept anything that doesn’t include Communications Act Title II regulation, Pai said. “That’s not so much a policy issue, it’s more of a political issue.” Asked if Title II regulation is inevitable, Pai said “there are certain special interests on the left who are going to demand it.” This time, some may also demand price regulation, he said.

What the new Democratic FCC does on media ownership depends on what the Supreme Court does in the Prometheus IV case argued Tuesday (see 2101190070), Pai said. “If, as I hope and expect, we prevail, then the FCC finally will have the opportunity to adjust its media ownership regulations, as required by law, to reflect a modern marketplace,” he said. “This is an issue where Democrats and Republicans can work together.”

In recent days, the FCC proposed fines for entities allegedly violating educational broadband service rules (see 2101080038), set revised rules for over-the-air reception devices (see 2101070068) and sought further comment on 6 GHz rules (see 2101110031). Last week, the FCC closed the first part of the C-band auction, and Pai signed an agreement Friday to implement coordination of cross-border spectrum use between the U.S. and Canada (see 2101150066).