FCC's Pai: Commission Should Approve IP Transition Pilot Program

The Federal Communications Commission has yet to vote on a proposal by AT&T to test the migration to an all-IP communications delivery platform, but FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai said he thinks the commission should approve it.

"The FCC has sought and received comments on a proposal to create an All-IP Pilot Program," Commissioner Pai said in a speech to the Hudson Institute. "I've reviewed the record carefully. And having done so, I am proposing today that the FCC move forward with this program." He likened the test to the Wilmington (NC) test of the national digital television transition, or the FCC's rural health care pilot program. Commissioner Pai suggested the test was needed because the move to IP delivery was "as inevitable as death, taxes, or another reality show starring a Kardashian." He outlined how he thinks the test should be conducted. First, it should be voluntary. Second, it should be conducted in a variety of diverse places.