What Trump means for telecom, media and technology

[Commentary] Elections have consequences. And nowhere are the consequences more monumental than in the telecommunication, media and technology (TMT) sector, where the erstwhile status quo stands to be upended soon. Hazarding an early guess on the "Trump doctrine," we should expect a more benign, pro-business approach to communications regulation as it affects TMT.

Under Trump, size will not matter: Big corporations are not seen as inherently bad or suspect, despite candidate Trump's shoot-from-the-hip reactions to questions on mergers during the campaign.

Communications Act rewrite and FCC jurisdiction: The Communications Act of 1996 is the statutory beacon for federal policy in the media and communications space. As its title suggests, however, the Act is 20 years old, and is in desperate need of revision, if not reform altogether.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA): The Obama Federal Communications Commission adopted one of the most controversial anti-business rulings in decades, as it reinterpreted the TCPA. Seen by many companies as a boon for class action litigants, the TCPA imposed costly restrictions on the ability of businesses to communicate with their customers with auto dialer technology. Both Republican FCC Commissioners — Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly — have been opposed to the FCC's interpretation of the TCPA and have delineated its detrimental effect on business. In a Trump Administration, their view will prevail, and the current TCPA ruling is likely be reversed.

[Adonis Hoffman is chairman of Business in the Public Interest and adjunct professor at Georgetown University]