May 2018

A proposed rule change before the Federal Communications Commission for spectrum licenses in the 3.5 GHz band presents a clear choice between the needs of the few and the needs of the many—though with some complications.  The FCC is on the cusp of making a decision about a spectrum auction that has pitted the nation’s largest wireless carriers against a broad and eclectic coalition of shippers, railroads, ports, electric companies, manufacturers, and rural internet service providers.

The Office of Special Counsel has ruled that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai did not violate ethics laws by participating in a panel discussion at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, but said that it will be conducting standards training with agency employees in the coming months. "After considering all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the event, OSC has concluded that you did not violate the Hatch Act by merely participating in the panel discussion in an official capacity," OSC official Ana Galindo-Marrone wrote in the letter to Ch