Rep Doyle asks FCC chair if anything can stop net neutrality rollback

Rep Michael Doyle (D-PA) accused Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai of pursuing an agenda that harms both consumers and small businesses. "Chairman Pai, in the time that you have been head of this agency, we have seen an agenda that is anti-consumer, anti-small business, anti-competition, anti-innovation, and anti-opportunity," Rep Doyle said during an FCC oversight hearing held by the House Communications Subcommittee. Rep Doyle pointed to several of Chairman Pai’s decisions, including ending a net neutrality investigation into what Rep Doyle called "anti-competitive zero-rating practices" by AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Doyle also questioned whether anything would stop Pai's Republican majority from rolling back net neutrality rules and the classification of ISPs as common carriers. Doyle asked Pai, "what kind of comment would cause you to change your mind?" Chairman Pai responded, "economic analysis that shows credibly that there's infrastructure investment that has increased dramatically" since the net neutrality rules went into effect. Chairman Pai said he also would take evidence seriously if it shows that the overall economy would suffer from a net neutrality rollback or that startups and consumers can't thrive without the existing rules.