Pai Attacks FCC Business Outreach

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai criticized Chairman Tom Wheeler Thursday for setting up meetings “on Wall Street” to clarify the FCC’s position toward transactions. Pai was referring to alleged business outreach efforts by the commission. The FCC has denied that the business outreach was ever planned or occurred (see 1510020049). The agency’s record toward business has created uncertainty, Pai said, but that uncertainty shouldn’t be addressed though private meetings, he said in a news conference following Wheeler's, which itself followed the commissioner meeting. Commission policy should be “made in public” he said. The FCC should establish a “clear regulatory framework” for deciding which transactions will be approved and "let the chips fall where they may,” Pai said.