Wheeler Not Backing Down as FCC Moves Closer to Start of Republican Control
The FCC is taking up only items on which no commissioner has raised an objection, Chairman Tom Wheeler said Thursday after the monthly commissioners' meeting. The meeting was over in about 10 minutes. On Wednesday, Wheeler pulled an order and Further NPRM on business data services, an order on a new phase of the mobility fund, a roaming NPRM and a video description order in response to letters from Capitol Hill (see 1611160048). All technically remain on circulation.
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The two Republican commissioners, Ajit Pai and Mike O’Rielly, have often held their own news conference after Wheeler speaks, but didn’t do so Thursday. An FCC official said they didn’t because the commission didn’t vote on any significant items. The lone item approved on the consent agenda was an order addressing a Freedom of Information Act appeal.
“We certainly had a quick meeting this morning,” Wheeler told reporters. “Certain of my colleagues” identified all the items on the agenda as “controversial and asked that they not be considered today,” he said. All of the issues need to be addressed, he said.
“It is unfortunate that hospitals and small businesses in search of competitive alternatives will be denied that opportunity,” Wheeler said. “They deserve better from this commission. It is truly disappointing that 1.4 million Americans living in rural areas without LTE service will continue to be so deprived. They deserve better from this commission.”
Wheeler, a former cable and wireless industry lobbyist, made a case reminiscent of President Dwight Eisenhower’s arguments on the military-industrial complex, in his farewell address to the nation in January 1961, several industry officials observed. All of the items pulled from the agenda were considered controversial “because they are opposed, principally, by the largest incumbent firms in this sector,” he said. “The public interest should prevail.” Wheeler said it would be a “real mistake” for a GOP-controlled FCC to overturn the 2015 net neutrality rules.
Wheeler declined to say when he would leave the agency. He is widely expected to depart after Donald Trump is sworn in as president, consistent with other recent chairmen (see 1611150054). Wheeler said he has had no contact with the Trump transition team. “I’m the last guy in the world to talk about what the Trump administration intends to do,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler was asked about whether he should have done more to negotiate with the FCC Republicans to avoid a slew of 3-2 votes. The vast majority of FCC decisions are unanimous and “you kind of start there,” Wheeler said. “Government is deciding. You decide based on principles. There are plenty of opportunities to try to work out things. But when you start from a ‘no’ … it’s hard to have to have any kind of a discussion. Votes are how we resolve things.”
Meanwhile, some business is still getting done. The agency announced that the Enforcement Bureau and the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission reached a formal agreement committing the agencies to work together to combat unlawful robocalls. “These agencies have also committed to exchange information about investigations and complaints, share knowledge and expertise, provide information about legal theories and economic analysis, keep each other abreast of significant legal developments, and provide other appropriate assistance,” the FCC said in a news release.