FCC Transaction review: Competition and the Public Interest

Three points about the Federal Communications Commission’s review of transactions are important to understand:

First, the nature of the substantive review that Congress has instructed the FCC to apply. Second, the process that the FCC has instituted, consistent with that statutory standard, to provide an open and fair means of reviewing transactions. Third, the manner in which the complementary approaches of the Commission and the antitrust agencies work harmoniously to serve the public interest in a sector that has traditionally been the subject of careful governmental scrutiny.

I believe that the Federal Communications Commission's actions should be informed by competition principles. These principles look to the impact of practices on consumers and the public interest, not just on competitors. But, the "public interest" standard is not limited to purely economic outcomes. It necessarily encompasses the "broad aims of the Communications Act," which include, among other things, a deeply rooted preference for preserving and enhancing competition in relevant markets, accelerating private-sector deployment of advanced services, ensuring a diversity of information sources and services to the public, and generally managing spectrum in the public interest.