Trump Keeps Us All Guessing On Telecom.

[Commentary] Usually in January, especially with a new Congress of new term, I like to try to do a “this year in telecom” preview. But this year I can’t. Oh, I can list all the issues we’ve been arguing over the last few years and guarantee we’re going to re-litigate them. We’ve already seen most of the Internet service provider industry (joined by the Ad industry) push back on the privacy rules adopted last October. We’ve seen a bunch of the industry submit their wish list for deregulation as part of the bienniel telecommunications regulatory review. And with Rep Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) now Chair of the Telecom Subcommittee, we can expect lots of action on the Hill side on everything from Federal Communications Commission process reform to Telecom Act re-write.

But the Trump Administration itself — its priorities, its possible pick for FCC Chair, and its general direction on telecom policy — remain as much a mystery as when I wrote about it in Dec. So as we count down the days until the Trump inauguration and a new FCC, we have no better idea about the incoming Trump Administration’s ultimate policy goals. We can guess ’til the cows come home. We can assume that the Pai/O’Reilly FCC will do what it can to move as quickly as possible to roll things back — or at least set the table to roll things back. Or will they wait for instructions from the Administration? Or do they already have a green light to go ahead? I guess we’ll find out in two weeks.