What to Watch During Pai's Last Weeks at the FCC

Although Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has yet to issue any plans for narrowing the liability protections for tech companies, as President Donald Trump and some conservatives want, he’s been keeping busy. Chairman Pai is attempting to knock out objectives by circulating proposals for votes rather than holding formal ones during the FCC’s last official meeting under him on Jan. 13. Among the items he’s circulating: beginning a rulemaking looking at ways to free up 12 GHz satellite airwaves for 5G wireless use, despite pushback from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk; approving rules for auctioning off some of the 2.5 GHz airwaves, which Chairman Pai has said he wants to happen in the first half of this year; and finalizing details around the grantees for a $100 million telehealth pilot. [See FCC's Items on Circulation]