#80: FCC Comm'r Ajit Pai Dissents on Charter-TWC Merger
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai joins the show to discuss his dissenting vote in the FCC’s approval of the Charter-Time Warner merger. Late last month, the FCC and Department of Justice (DoJ) approved the merger of the sixth and third biggest broadband providers in America. And even though the DoJ determined that the merger will benefit consumers without harming competition, the FCC extorted a series of onerous conditions from the two companies in its review process. For that reason, Republican FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai dissented. Pai discusses his dissent with Evan and Berin. Do the harms of the merger conditions outweigh the benefits? What does this say about the FCC’s process? Is merger review an appropriate avenue for policymaking?