FCC Commissioner O'Rielly Letter to Paul Wiedefeld, General Manager, WMATA

Federal Communications Commission Commissioner Michael O'Rielly sent Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority CEO Paul Wiedefeld a letter saying he’s baffled by the decision of the system to halt a pilot program for Wi-Fi service in train stations. Metro officials have said that an ongoing pilot program bringing Wi-Fi service to six downtown stations will stop after 45 days so they can examine the service. Commissioner O'Rielly wants to know why Metro couldn’t keep the service operational while it evaluated the success of the pilot. “Given the overall questionable state of communications capabilities within the entire system, it seems counterintuitive to cease operations of an additional mechanism that the public can use to reach emergency personnel when warranted."