FCC's Pai: Net Neutrality's 'Days Are Numbered' Under Trump

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai this week proudly proclaimed that net neutrality's "days are numbered" under the incoming Trump administration. That shouldn't be surprising; Trump made it clear on the campaign trail he didn't like net neutrality (despite it not being entirely clear he knows what it is, his only public statement confusing it with the fairness doctrine). Trump's top three telecom advisors however -- tasked with guiding policy and picking a new FCC boss -- have made it very clear they want to gut net neutrality and significantly hamstring the FCC's enforcement authority over broadband ISPs.

Pai, a former Verizon regulatory lawyer, is one of several industry allies being considered by Trump's telecom advisors to be the next FCC boss.

"I’m optimistic that last month’s election will prove to be an inflection point—and that during the Trump Administration, we will shift from playing defense at the FCC to going on offense," Pai said in a speech this week in Washington. "The commission "need[s] to remove outdated and unnecessary regulations... We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation," added the Commissioner.

The problem is that in telecom policy parlance, the word "deregulation" has mutated to be more accurately translated as "doing whatever AT&T, Comcast and Verizon think is best for their revenues." Under this thought paradigm, consumer welfare is almost always an afterthought.

That's why you'll see folks like Pai wax poetic about free markets and "deregulation," yet intentionally and often comedically ignore limited competition in the space -- while supporting ISP-written protectionist state laws that hamstring communities looking for better broadband options. Pai has consistently opposed every FCC effort to bring genuine broadband competition to the sector (even the agency's higher 25 Mbps broadband definition), while advocating for fewer rules on media consolidation.

"On the day that the Title II (net neutrality) Order was adopted, I said that 'I don’t know whether this plan will be vacated by a court, reversed by Congress, or overturned by a future Commission. But I do believe that its days are numbered,'" Pai said (the courts ultimately fully upheld the FCC's decision). "Today, I am more confident than ever that this prediction will come true."

Pai, alongside fellow Republican Commissioner Mike O'Reilly, has voted down nearly every pro-consumer FCC policy during his time at the agency. That has included net neutrality, consumer broadband privacy protections, efforts to protect community broadband rights, and even holding AT&T accountable for outright fraud. At one point, Pai tried to claim that the US net neutrality rules would somehow encourage dictators in Iran and North Korea. On another occasion, he tried to claim large ISPs were entirely innocent of anti-competitive behavior, and Netflix was the one violating neutrality simply for operating a CDN.

The problem Pai (and Trump) will face is that net neutrality has very broad, bipartisan consumer support. Dismantle the rules, and Pai and friends are looking at an online activist backlash that will likely make the online debate over SOPA look like a cozy fireside chat.