Lydia Beyoud

The Federal Communications Commission’s record-breaking $100 million proposed fine against AT&T may soon be relegated to the dustbin.

The blockbuster fine, which the commission’s Enforcement Bureau proposed in 2015 for the company’s wireless network management practices, could be an early casualty of new Chairman Ajit Pai’s intent to shake up the agency. He appears particularly eager to make his mark on the Enforcement Bureau.

Changes to the FCC’s enforcement procedures and focus could be among the actions with the most impact on both consumers and the telecommunications industry, including companies such as AT&T. Among the possible changes: a requirement that the commission wrap up enforcement cases within a year of announcing proposed fines. Chairman Pai is considering ideas for speeding up the FCC’s enforcement process, and a one-year limit “is certainly one idea that is on the table,” said agency spokesman Will Wiquist. “If a company has violated the Commission’s rules, the FCC shouldn’t be waiting years before imposing a financial penalty.” Such a move could lead to the commission simply dropping its case against AT&T.

Two senior congressional telecommunications aides, David Redl and David Quinalty, are said to be vying to lead the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, apparently. The NTIA is a Department of Commerce agency that plays a critical role in managing one of the country’s most valuable, if intangible, natural resources: radio wave spectrum. The wireless industry is hungry to get its hands on some of those airwaves in coming years, likely giving the agency more influence over the industry’s future. President Donald Trump will nominate the next NTIA administrator, subject to Senate confirmation.

Redl, current Republican chief counsel for communications and technology on the House Commerce Committee, is said to have thrown his hat into a ring already filled with several other contenders for the position, according to the sources. Redl has been a lawyer with the committee since 2011. He previously worked as director of regulatory affairs at CTIA, the largest wireless industry trade group. Quinalty, senior policy director on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, is also said to be interested in the role, as well as a possible position on President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council, the sources said. Quinalty has been a GOP aide on the committee since 2009.

The Federal Communications Commission has until Sept. 12 to respond to petitions by broadband providers including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, CenturyLink, and others for a full federal appeals court review of a panel decision upholding the agency's network neutrality rules. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit won't accept replies from broadband providers after that. After considering any filings from the FCC and its supporters, the full court will determine whether or not to rehear the case.

The request for responses by the court is standard procedure, said Andrew Schwartzman, Benton Senior Counselor at the Georgetown University Law Center Institute for Public Representation in Washington. “The odds of granting rehearing are still near zero,” Schwartzman said. Several telecom industry sources said on background that they do not expect the DC Circuit to grant a full court hearing.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler intends to stay in his job until the middle of 2017 if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wins the White House, apparently. Chairman Wheeler has avoided any public pronouncements about when he might leave the agency. Apparently, Chairman Wheeler has told telecommunications industry insiders privately about his plans for 2017.

Staying until mid-2017 gives Chairman Wheeler a better shot at wrapping up several big-ticket agency initiatives, sealing his legacy as an activist chairman. Chairman Wheeler is hoping to finish several controversial agency proposals before he leaves the chairmanship, including rules impacting the business broadband market, broadband privacy related to his network neutrality rules and a complex auction to shift spectrum licenses from television broadcasters into the hands of mobile carriers hungry for more airwaves. A mid-2017 time frame could also be just what a Clinton administration would prefer, apparently. Chairman Wheeler technically could serve out his full five-year commission term, which doesn't end until Nov. 3, 2018. That is not likely; according to conventional wisdom inside the Beltway, a Clinton loyalist is expected to take the helm of an agency that has grown from relative obscurity to playing a prominent policy role in the Obama Administration.