Wall Street Journal Lauds Pai Changes at FCC; Consultants Defend Lifeline Actions

process changes that create greater transparency, including the move to circulate with commissioners and then release to the public the draft text of meeting agenda items, said an editorial. It dismissed criticisms of Pai actions "reconsidering marginal changes" to Lifeline and closing an investigation of "popular" free-data plans. "For all the invented panic over Republican rule in Washington, note that Mr. Pai is divesting himself of authority and making the agency more responsive to the consumers who pay his salary," the newspaper said. In a blog post Friday, telco consultant Jonathan Lee defended the Pai FCC's revocation of nine Lifeline broadband provider designations approved in the final two months under previous Chairman Tom Wheeler. Lee noted the FCC hadn't approved any Lifeline applications for years and had been told by Republican lawmakers after the election to act "only on matters that require attention under the law." Lee took issue with a previous blog post from former Wheeler counselor Gigi Sohn that hailed pushback against the Lifeline decision. She also criticized a Pai explanation "setting the record straight" (see 1702090073 and 1702070062). "Perhaps if Sohn took less 'surprise and delight' in someone else having to defend themselves against misinformation, then she could have advised Chairman Wheeler to take an interest in Lifeline competition before being asked by Congress to focus only on matters 'that require attention under the law' prior to the change in presidential administrations," Lee wrote. In another Friday blog post, CCMI telecom consultant Andrew Regitsky also defended Pai's Lifeline actions: "While it is certainly fair to criticize Pai and the FCC, consumer advocates and their media allies would be better served to wait for a significant Commission action that actually hurts consumers rather than becoming outraged over everything."