FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai: Frustrated, Yet Hopeful

At the Federal Communications Commission, it’s not easy being in the minority. Republican Commissioner Ajit Pai would be the first to say it. Countless items go through the agency on 3-2 votes, leaving the two designated Republican commissioners disappointed. Just last week, Commissioner Pai hit back at the agency’s 2016 Broadband Progress Report as proof the agency has failed to deploy broadband “in a reasonable and timely fashion.” He does not hold back on his criticism of how current FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler runs the place. It’s way, way too partisan, he says.

Yet he is still amiable, even as he describes his experience serving in the oft-ignored FCC minority. He has a welcoming smile and a jumbo-sized mug with the Reese’s Peanut Butter’s logo on it. He is eager to discuss some of his favorite burgeoning technologies: virtual reality and 3-D printing. He particularly enjoys pontificating on how new technologies such as these could move civilization forward and gradually change everyday life. It’s his enthusiasm for technology that led Commissioner Pai to his position at the peak of telecommunication policy.