FCC chairman is moving again to roll back telecom rules

WASHINGTON — Ajit Pai, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is taking the next steps to unwind Obama-era rules and other regulatory efforts that had restricted the abilities of telecommunication companies and broadcasters.

With two items up for vote on Thursday that are expected to pass, Pai is carrying forward a swift Republican attack on telecom rules. The rollback will empower big telecom and media firms that have lobbied aggressively for deregulation, but consumer groups say it may also eventually put consumers at risk of higher prices and fewer options for services and media.

Since being appointed by President Donald Trump in January to lead the commission, Pai has abolished a plan to open the cable box market, suspended several participants from a program for low-income broadband subsidies, and chipped away at net neutrality, which guarantees consumers equal access to all internet content. A proposal to roll back net neutrality rules is expected as soon as this month.

“In just three months, he’s taken many steps to reduce choices for consumers, make services more expensive or roll back the rights people thought they had online,” Phillip Berenbroick, the senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, a left-leaning consumer group, said of Pai.

The two specific items to be voted on Thursday include a plan to make it easier for broadband providers to charge other businesses higher prices to connect to the main arteries of their networks. The action would clear the way for internet service providers like AT&T and CenturyLink to raise connection fees charged to hospitals, small businesses and wireless carriers in many markets where there is little or no competition for so-called backhaul broadband service.

The other item up for vote is a move to ease the limit on how many stations a broadcast TV company can own and how much of the local broadcast market it can dominate. The action is expected to invite more consolidation.

Corporate lobbyists have pressured the FCC and lawmakers, urging a rollback of Obama-era rules they view as too burdensome.