Prospects rise for an FCC competition authority

Brendan Carr, the senior Republican commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, said he welcomes what he’s seeing in the recent plan to expand internet connectivity choices for apartment dwellers from FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. President Joe Biden had asked the FCC to tackle this issue in his pro-competition executive order in 2021. Carr’s posture boosts the prospects for this plan, which some speculated was not positioned to move before the FCC obtained a Democratic majority. The agency is currently divided 2-2 between Democrats and Republicans. Carr, however, said the Rosenworcel draft strikes him as “pretty straightforward” and doesn’t offer “any real heartburn” so far. “I like competition. I like choice,” Carr said. “I don’t see any real hurdles to getting it voted and getting it out the door.” Rosenworcel, for her part, said that while she wants to adopt the proposal “in short order,” she’s not rushing her colleagues.