FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

Chairman Pai Statement on Hurricane Michael

Data from the Federal Communications Commission’s Disaster Information Reporting System shows that Hurricane Michael caused substantial communications outages along its destructive path.

Chairman Pai Remarks at International Regulators Forum in Mexico City

Closing the digital divide is the Federal Communications Commission’s top priority. The best way to make sure every American has better, faster, cheaper Internet access is to set a market-based regulatory framework that promotes competition and increases network investment. We also want to promote competition and innovation that could transform the marketplace.  The FCC has made facilitating the rollout of 5G a major priority. One economic analysis of our [5G] reforms projects that they will cut about $2 billion in costs, unleashing $2.4 billion in extra investment.

Chairman Pai on 5G at Americas Spectrum Management Conference

I was at the White House for a summit on 5G. Notably, this summit was spearheaded by the National Economic Council. NEC’s ownership of this event tells us that the White House sees wireless innovation as an issue of economic competitiveness, first and foremost. And I think that’s exactly right. 

Chairman Pai Remarks at Connect2Compete Event

Closing that divide will require both public sector and private sector leadership. With respect to the latter, Connect2Compete is setting the pace. Connect2Compete is a bold private-sector initiative to tackle the issue of broadband affordability. Altogether, more than 400,000 low-income Americans have been connected through Cox’s efforts during the last six years. This program has had a major positive impact on people’s lives. According to one survey, for example, most parents reported that their children’s grades improved after they enrolled in the program. Even better days are ahead.

Keeping Up A Fast Pace On Spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission's October agenda will address three issues critical to advancing the 5G FAST Plan—creating more opportunities for unlicensed innovation in the 6 GHz band, expanding spectrum opportunities for 5G in the 3.5 GHz band, and updating our business data services rules for smaller, rural carriers in order to promote fiber deployment.

Chairman Pai on DOJ Lawsuit Against California Internet Regulation Law

I’m pleased the Department of Justice has filed this suit. The Internet is inherently an interstate information service. As such, only the federal government can set policy in this area. And the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit recently reaffirmed that state regulation of information services is preempted by federal law. Not only is California’s Internet regulation law illegal, it also hurts consumers. The law prohibits many free-data plans, which allow consumers to stream video, music, and the like exempt from any data limits.

Chairman Pai Remarks at White House 5G Summit

With senior leaders participating from across government, this meeting sends a powerful message: US leadership in 5G technology is a national imperative for economic growth and competitiveness. So point one: We need to seize the opportunities of 5G. Point two: Time is of the essence. We are not alone in our pursuit of 5G. The US is in the lead, thanks to our private sector as well as the work of the Federal Communications Commission, this Administration, and Congress. But China, South Korea, and many other countries are eager to claim this mantle.

5G is in reach. But only if we set the right policies.

A strong innovation economy could propel the United States’ economic growth and create countless jobs. Internet speeds could be 100 or even 1,000 times faster than 4G. And communities currently on the wrong side of the digital divide (especially lower-income urban and rural areas) could obtain quick connections for the first time. Other countries, especially China, are eager to seize these opportunities for themselves, confident that the first mover will claim the bulk of the benefits (as happened when the United States led on 4G).

Remarks of Chairman Pai at Hillsdale College in Michigan

At the dawn of the commercial Internet, policymakers faced a fundamental choice. Should we regulate this new thing called the Internet like a lumbering utility? Do we want it to be as innovative as a water company? Do we want it to work as fast as the DMV? Or do we want the free market to guide its development and allow it to scale? In a historic and bipartisan decision in 1996, President Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress went the latter route.

FCC Chairman Pai Remarks to Maine Policy Heritage Center

My mission and the Federal Communications Commission’s top priority is closing the digital divide and maximizing the benefits of broadband for the American people. The FCC is working to achieve that goal with the help of market principles. We want private companies to have the strongest possible business case for raising the capital and hiring the crews to build next-generation networks. Of course, it’s not enough to make sure that all Americans have high-speed Internet access. We also need to preserve the Internet itself as an open platform for innovation and free expression.

Chairman Pai Statement on Hurricane Florence

As Hurricane Florence approaches the East Coast, the Federal Communications Commission is working to prepare for the storm, coordinating with our federal and state partners and letting them know that we stand ready to work with them and assist in any way we can. At this point, FCC staff have already been deployed to survey the radiofrequency spectrum across critical areas of South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, and our Operations Center is open 24 hours a day.

Chairman Pai Statement on Court Ruling on State Regulation of Information Services

[The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reaffirmed in Charter Advanced Services (MN), LLC v. Lange (in the context of Minnesota’s attempt to regulate interconnected VoIP service) that state efforts to regulate information services are preempted by federal law.]

What I Hope to Learn from the Tech Giants

Elected officials will have a chance to question those who run Silicon Valley tech giants. This public scrutiny comes at an important time, as Americans across the political spectrum debate the ever-increasing role of these massive companies in our economy and civic society. Here are a few things I hope to learn from these hearings:

Chairman Pai on Inspector General Report Concluding No Favoritism Toward Sinclair

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai issued the following statement regarding the Office of Inspector General’s independent report, which found no evidence or suggestion of impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, or favoritism towards Sinclair. Moreover, the Office of the Inspector General found no lack of impartiality related to the proposed Sinclair-Tribune Merger:

Chairman Pai Response Regarding Lifeline Reform

On August 10, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai responded to letters from members of Congress who wrote to Chairman Pai regarding drastic cuts to the FCC's Lifeline program. In response, Chairman Pai wrote that the 2017 Lifeline Reform Order seeks to focus Lifeline support where it is most needed.

Chairman Pai Remarks at Rio Rancho Cyber Academy in New Mexico

As of 2017, an estimated 6.5 million students nationwide attended schools that didn’t have the Internet bandwidth needed to support digital learning. More than 2,000 schools lacked fiber connections. Notably, 77% of those schools were in rural communities.  If there’s one message you should take away from my being here today, it’s that the Federal Communications Commission is committed to working with educators and state and local leaders across the country to close these connectivity gaps.

Chairman Pai Remarks Before Michigan Association of Broadcasters

For its part, the Federal Communications Commission will not take the value of broadcasting for granted so long as I am Chairman. I’m committed to modernizing our rules in order to allow broadcasting to flourish. Our record over the past year-and-a-half is proof of this. And with your indulgence, I’d like to walk through some of that record.

Chairman Pai Response Regarding Wireless Infrastructure Regulations

On March 21, 2018, Sens Tom Udall (D-NM), Tina Smith (D-NM), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Rep Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission expressing concern over the FCC's report and order"wireless infrastructure streamlining" and asked the FCC to delay finalizing the rule, "until a truly meaningful consultation with Indian Tribes occurs." On Aug 3, Chairman Pai responded, saying that in developing the new rules, the Commission engaged extensively with tribal nations, inter-tribal organizations, and state and local historic preservation officers.

Chairman Pai Statement On Office Of Inspector General Report On FCC Comment System

For several months, my office has been aware of and cooperating with the Office of Inspector General’s independent investigation into the incident involving the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) that took place on May 7-8, 2017.

Chairman Pai Remarks at the Resurgent Conference

It is sometimes hard for government to be on the side of innovation. Before change occurs, it’s often easier to identify and focus on those who will be hurt than those who will be helped, even if far more people will be helped in the end. Or to paraphrase the French economist Frédéric Bastiat, policymakers have a destructive habit of focusing on that which is seen, without acknowledging that which is not seen. Instead of viewing innovation as a problem to be regulated based on rules from the past, government should see innovation’s potential, guided by markets that embrace the future.

Chairman Pai Statement on Circulation of Mobility Fund Challenge Order

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai circulated for a vote by his fellow commissioners an Order to extend by 90 days the window to file challenges to the eligibility map for the upcoming Mobility Fund Phase II broadband auction. Mobility Fund Phase II will award, via a reverse auction, up to $4.53 billion to support deployment of 4G LTE mobile service where it is now lacking. The challenge process is one part of the Commission’s efforts to ensure that these limited funds are targeted to areas that lack unsubsidized 4G LTE service.

Chairman Pai Remarks at CANTO 2018 Fireside Chat

[Speech] At my remarks during yesterday’s opening session, I talked about why we are all here: to help bring the benefits of communications technology to all the people we serve. Before taking questions from Chairman Wilkins and you in the audience, I’d like to talk briefly about how we are pursuing specific policies at the Federal Communications Commission to bring digital opportunity to the people of the United States. In particular, I’ll focus on infrastructure and spectrum.

Remarks of Chairman Pai at CANTO 2018

[Speech] The primary focus of my remarks will be the primary focus of my chairmanship since day one: closing the digital divide in order to make sure everyone can benefit from the Internet revolution. To date, I’ve visited roughly 90 cities in 33 states in the US, driving more than 8,500 road miles

Coming Home: August FCC Meeting Agenda

Leading off our August agenda will be 5G, the next generation of wireless connectivity. We’ll finalize the rules for the auction of airwaves in the 28 GHz band and the auction of the 24 GHz band, which will follow immediately afterward.  These will be the first auctions of high-band spectrum for 5G services, but they won’t be the last.  Specifically, I’m excited to announce my plan to move forward with a single auction of three more millimeter-wave spectrum bands—the 37 GHz, 39 GHz, and 47 GHz bands—in the second half of 2019.