FCC Denies any Business Outreach Meetings; Pai Says Policies, not Messaging, the Problem
The FCC denied it's undertaking any outreach to the business community -- a supposed move that had generated criticism from one of its own commissioners. "There is no tour," an agency spokeswoman said Friday in response to a report by…
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Mergermarket Group's Policy and Regulatory Report (PaRR) that the FCC is about to undertake meetings in New York City to give more insight into and assurances about its transactions review process. The agency said no such tour ever was scheduled. General Counsel Jonathan Sallet was in New York City Friday to speak at a Fordham University. Sallet had been invited in August to speak at the event and initially accepted a separate invitation to speak at a separate breakfast with investors as he already was going to be in the city, but subsequently canceled, the FCC said. According to the PaRR, the outreach in part comes after concerns raised by a recent Sallet speech on the agency's merger review process (see 1509290024">1509290024). Commissioner Ajit Pai in a statement Friday criticized that reported business community outreach by the agency: "The FCC’s problem right now isn’t messaging. What’s needed are better policies -- policies that make economic sense, that spur greater investment in and deployment of broadband infrastructure, and that give entrepreneurs the certainty they need to innovate and succeed." Pai also said "policy should be set straight in public by the five FCC Commissioners nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, not behind closed doors on Wall Street for the benefit of a selected group of insiders." Asked about the FCC denials Pai Chief of Staff Matthew Berry said "Our office is pleased that the tour was canceled once the FCC’s hand was caught in the cookie jar. Based on everything we’ve heard, the original article ... was accurate and the FCC is now dissembling to avoid embarrassment." Pai, along with Chairman Tom Wheeler and Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, have largely stopped doing general meetings with financial analysts and their clients -- a notable difference from the FCC under Julius Genachowski, when Wall Street outreach was more commonplace (see 1502120010).