Here’s what's happened since Brendan Carr took over the FCC

Brendan Carr, newly minted chair of the Federal Communications Commission, has been plenty busy making his mark in the telecommunications regulatory landscape. Here's a look at the most notable events that have transpired during Carr's first 30 days—and what we can expect in the months to come:

• Dismantling Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: The U.S. government has launched a campaign to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from both the public and private sectors. And Carr has been more than happy to carry out that directive, notably going after Comcast and its subsidiary NBCUniversal for “invidious” forms of civil rights violations. Not all of the FCC was on board, as Commissioner Geoffrey Starks later said, “this enforcement action is out of our lane and out of our reach.”
• Wiping the slate: Carr has wasted no time gutting Rosenworcel FCC initiatives. By the time he took the FCC reins, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals already ruled against the FCC’s attempt to reinstate net neutrality—a decision celebrated by Carr and telecom trade groups. He also axed the Commission’s Digital Discrimination Task Force (what he dubbed the “DEI Task Force”), which aimed to combat digital redlining. Carr has said he intends to cut the regulatory red tape surrounding broadband infrastructure projects.
• Spectrum showdown: Carr oversaw the first FCC meeting under his watch, where the topic du jour involved opening the floodgates for more wireless spectrum usage. Notably, the FCC voted to advance an auction of the AWS-3 band. The FCC also voted to open a notice of inquiry (on the best way to use the upper C-Band spectrum =—whether it’s for 5G or other services. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is understandably eyeing that spectrum for shared satellite use.