Federal Communications Commission Chairman (FCC) Ajit Pai announced plans to step down from his post effective January 20, 2021, the Inauguration Day, leaving it for new President-elect Joe Biden to choose a new Democratic head for the agency. A new administration typically picks a new chairman.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve at the Federal Communications Commission, including as Chairman of the FCC over the past four years. I am grateful to President Trump for giving me the opportunity to lead the agency in 2017, to President Obama for appointing me as a Commissioner in 2012, and to Senate Majority Leader McConnell and the Senate for twice confirming me. To be the first Asian-American to chair the FCC has been a particular privilege,” he said in a statement issued on Monday.
Pai was chosen by President Donald Trump starting 2017, and presided over some of most controversial decisions from the agency, including the highly contested effort three years ago to roll back net neutrality rules that had required Internet providers to treat all Web traffic equally. He was also instrumental in the controversial decision in giving permission to Ligado Networks to deploy a low-power broadband network, which faced vociferous opposition from all quarters, including the US Defense Department, the Department of Commerce, and commercial satellite operators, over concerns that such a plan would disrupt GPS signals.
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Under Pai, the FCC paved the way for next-generation 5G spectrum connectivity, conducted five spectrum auctions and two rural broadband reverse auctions in four years involving billions of dollars, opened 1,245 megahertz of mid-band spectrum for unlicensed use, and adopted more than 25 orders through the Modernization of Media Regulation Initiative, besides several other initiatives to protecting US communications networks from national security threats at home and abroad.
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Under Pai, the FCC also streamlined the norms for satellite licensing for commercial space startups and established rules for the upcoming auction of 300 megahertz of satellite C-band spectrum for 5G cellular network operators.
In his statement, Pai said the commission had also continued to close digital divide and designation of three-digit code, 988, for a national suicide prevention hotline. Calling his tenure the “most transparent FCC in history,” Pai said the agency had to make a series of “tough choices” under his watch.
“As a result, our nation’s communications networks are now faster, stronger, and more widely deployed than ever before,” he said.
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