October 2017

President Donald Trump's war of words with the press escalated again when he suggested challenging, or revoking, the broadcasting licenses of stations that air network news programming. The response from the chair of the Federal Communications Commission: silence.

Chairman Ajit Pai could probably calm the industry and people across the political spectrum by assuring them that the agency won't violate democratic norms by targeting stations for political reasons. But thus far he hasn't issued an official statement or even a tweet about the president's tweets. "I think Chairman Pai is precariously balancing his desire not to anger the president with his desire not to anger the broadcast industry, which he has assiduously courted," says former FCC special counsel Gigi Sohn. "He certainly doesn’t want to attract the president’s ire."

I’ve been asked to talk about where we are with spectrum policy in the United States, and what lies ahead. Federal Communications Commission. Chairman Pai has two overarching goals at the top of the Commission’s wireless agenda. First, we want to unleash spectrum to meet growing consumer demand and enable new waves of wireless innovations that will grow our economy and improve the standard of living for the American people. The second key goal of our wireless agenda is harnessing the power of spectrum to help bridge the digital divide.

One foundational principle is flexible use for wireless spectrum. Instead of mandating that a particular spectrum band be used with a specific type of wireless technology, the government should leave that choice to the private sector, which has a much better sense of consumer demand. The Commission has a role to play in crafting light-touch regulatory frameworks, with clear and technology-neutral rules. Basically, we want to put spectrum into the marketplace and then let the market and innovators go to work. Flexible use for spectrum is a proven practice. For decades, it has enabled wireless networks in the U.S. to evolve with technology and to do so much more quickly than if operators had to obtain government sign-off each step of the way. Another principle is our commitment to continue to identify possibilities to put airwaves to more efficient use. Chairman Pai believes we need an all-of-the-above approach to this spectrum endeavor, looking at low-, mid-, and high-band spectrum.

While key White House technology leadership positions remain unfilled, President Donald Trump’s technology office is looking for ways to bring business professionals into government for short-term projects. The Office of American Innovation, a new office Trump established to update federal technology, could model some of its recruitment efforts after digitally focused teams founded under Barack Obama. The US Digital Service, which troubleshoots major government projects, and 18F, a digital consultancy, both hire heavily from private sector tech companies including Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and Google. Chris Liddell, one of the members of the Office of American Innovation, would “love to see us move further and faster, [with] more creative ways of getting people in for particular tours of duty,” he said. Those periods could be as short as 10 days or up to two years, he explained.

Team Internet is a network of volunteers combining people power with technology to mobilize people across the country to pressure their lawmakers to stand up for Net Neutrality. Free Press Action Fund, Demand Progress and Fight for the Future launched the project in July. Since then, Team Internet volunteers have spoken in person about Net Neutrality to 200 members of Congress or their staff at both town halls and in-district meetings.

Activists Iliana Gomez and Lesley Perg provide a critical backbone of support for Team Internet’s organizing infrastructure to make that happen. Since the end of August, they’ve done nearly all the work of the host-support team. This team has provided assistance to the scores of individuals — or hosts — who have organized meetings about Net Neutrality with their local congressional offices through Team Internet. Gomez and Perg call hosts and talk them through the details of their events, ensuring they have all the materials they need and are prepared to meet fellow activists and their lawmakers.