Subcommittee Slates COVID-19 Update with FCC's Pai

The House Communications Subcommittee has scheduled a teleconference with FCC chairman Ajit Pai for May 19.

Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-Pa.) and ranking member Bob Latta (R-Ohio) said it would be a discussion of "critical consumer protection, broadband and spectrum issues" during the COVID-19 pandemic, and signaled they had plenty of concerns.

It will not be a public hearing, but the subcommittee is allowing press access.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted significant issues that fall under the purview of the FCC, including the lack of affordable high-speed broadband in too many cities, towns, and rural communities across the country, dangerous robocall scams, the allocation of our nation’s airwaves, expanding access to telehealth and more,” Doyle and Latta said in a joint statement. “We look forward to hearing from Chairman Pai about the steps the FCC is taking to ensure consumers are protected and staying connected to the internet during this pandemic.”

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.