Baker Calls for Swifter, More Focused Merger Reviews;Boucher Predicts Congress Won't Stop Net Neutrality Rules

摘要

FCC Commissioner Meredith A. Baker has called for changes in the FCC's merger review procedures to ensure that companies' applications get swifter action and that any conditions imposed are intended to address harms that are specific to the transaction. Speaking at the Institute for Policy Innovation's Communications Summit on March 2, Commissioner Baker questioned the necessity for separate merger reviews by the FCC in addition to antitrust-based reviews conducted by the Federal Trade Commission or the Justice Department. However, she acknowledged that the FCC is obligated by statute to conduct public interest reviews of proposed license transfers associated with mergers.