Ajit Pai today presided over his first Federal Communications Commission meeting since being named chairman by President Donald Trump, and he promised that the FCC will eliminate regulations under his leadership.

He also said that consumer protection and enforcement are important priorities for the commission—but he wouldn't comment about whether he'll enforce the existing net neutrality rules.

In a press conference after the meeting, Pai was asked several times about net neutrality. While Pai has repeatedly made it clear that he opposes the current rules and wants to overturn them, he has not said whether the commission will continue to enforce all of the rules while they are still in place.

When asked by a reporter if the agency will continue to enforce the rules, Pai pointed out that he and fellow Republican Commissioner Michael O'Rielly already said they wouldn't punish small ISPs for violations of the net neutrality order's "enhanced transparency" rules. The FCC is finalizing an order that will exempt ISPs with 250,000 or fewer subscribers from those truth-in-billing rules and will not enforce them against the small ISPs while they're still in place.

But for now, Pai is not saying whether the commission will continue to enforce the core net neutrality rules that prohibit Internet providers from blocking or throttling traffic or giving priority to Web services in exchange for payment.

"Beyond that [transparency rule exemption for small ISPs], I’m not going to comment on what steps we may or may not take on enforcement," Pai said in response to a reporter's question.

Pai was asked the question by two other reporters and continued to decline comment. "Again, we haven’t made any determinations at this time," Pai said. "I think the issue is pretty simple. I favor a free and open Internet and I oppose Title II. That's pretty much all I can say about that topic."

Under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler, Pai opposed the Title II reclassification of Internet providers as common carriers and the related imposition of net neutrality rules. But it isn't clear whether Pai would support any net neutrality rules, even if they were imposed without the use of Title II. In May 2014, Pai voted against a preliminary version of the rules that did not include a Title II reclassification and were weaker than the ones ultimately approved the following year.

When asked today if he intends to reverse the Title II reclassification, Pai said, "We have not made any determinations at this time." Of course, Pai has already made his preference to overturn Title II clear, so it may just be a matter of time before he's ready to make a specific proposal. Congress could also eliminate the Title II classification of ISPs.

Enforcement still important—for robocalls

Despite not pledging to enforce net neutrality rules, Pai said that "enforcement is a critical priority for this commission" and that "consumer protection is an area that I have taken a great interest in." He pointed out that robocalling is the top source of complaints to the FCC and said he intends to "find ways to make sure consumers are protected from that scourge."

"More generally, my philosophy on enforcement is simple," Pai said. "You follow the law, you make a diligent search for the facts, and in your review of the law and the facts, take the appropriate action that is necessary to protect the public interest."

The Title II classification of ISPs that Pai wants to eliminate gives the FCC more enforcement tools, prohibiting "unjust or unreasonable discrimination" with rates and practices. Under Title II, consumers and competitors can file FCC complaints against ISPs over prices or policies that may violate that standard. The Title II reclassification also led to privacy rules protecting customers of Internet service providers, rules that were opposed by Pai and could be overturned.

Eliminating regulations

The biggest agenda item at Pai's first meeting today as chair was a 3-0 vote to eliminate two public inspection file rules. One of the rules required TV and radio stations to maintain copies of correspondence from viewers and listeners and make them available to the public; this paperwork was replaced by an online system that ensures the public still has access to the information.

The other eliminated rule required cable companies to "maintain and allow public inspection of the location of a cable system’s principal headend." Going forward, the headend information will instead be available to the FCC, TV stations, and franchisors upon request. Cable companies can make the information publicly available in the FCC's online database, but they won't be required to.

In his press conference, Pai said this vote is just the first step toward his goal of "modernizing" regulations and "remov[ing] unnecessary or counterproductive regulations." Pai argues that removing regulations frees up money for ISPs to invest in building and upgrading networks.

President Trump yesterday signed an executive order directing federal agencies to get rid of two regulations for every new regulation added. Pai said this order apparently doesn't apply to independent agencies like the FCC, but said he still wants to remove "legacy regulations" if they're not necessary to promote competition and the public interest. FCC regulations should "match the reality of the modern marketplace," he said.

On Pai's first full day as chairman last week, he said that one of his top priorities will be closing the digital divide by bringing broadband to all Americans. Today, he announced the formation of a Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee that will be open to applications from consumer and community groups, the communications industry, and federal, state, local, and tribal officials.

The committee will focus on "further reforms to the FCC’s pole attachment rules; identifying unreasonable regulatory barriers to broadband deployment; ways to encourage local governments to adopt deployment-friendly policies; and other reforms within the scope of the Commission’s authority," the FCC said.