Today: Illinois Governor Appoints ICC Commissioners, BDAC loses San Jose Mayor, President Nominates FTC Commissioners,

FTC Premerger Notification Filing Thresholds  

Illinois – Governor Appoints Two ICC Commissioners to Five-Year Terms

The Governor has appointed Anastasia Palivos and D. Ethan Kimbrel to five-year terms on the Commission.  Both commissioners are firsts in their own respect.  Commissioner Palivos is the first Greek-American woman appointed to the commission and, at 28 years old, the youngest-ever appointed commissioner.  Acting Commissioner Kimbrel is the first African-American to hold the chief administrative law judge position in the Commission’s history.  The appointments now await confirmation by the Illinois State Senate.  The ICC has five Commissioners, one of whom is designated Chairman by the Governor. 

San Jose Mayor Resigns from BDAC

Mayor Liccardo of San Jose has resigned from the FCC’s Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) citing the pervasive and overwhelming influence of big telecom and industry interests over the body, and the predetermined, industry-favoring outcome.  The Mayor said, in part: “It has become abundantly clear, however, that Chairman Pai and the FCC merely pay lip service to the goal of digital equity, and this body will simply serve to further the interests of the telecommunications industry over the public interest.  As a result, I have submitted my resignation to the FCC Broadband Deployment Advisory Board effective immediately.”   Liccardo observed that the industry “has sought to create a set of rules that will provide it with easy access to publicly-funded infrastructure at taxpayer-subsidized rates, without any obligation to provide broadband access to underserved residents.“  Nevertheless he said that “[w]e must keep fighting to ensure that the growing benefits brought by broadband access reach all of our communities and with little hope of supportive policy emanating from the FCC, we are looking to Congress to come up with a solution and will do everything to support sensible legislation that puts the best interests of Americans first. With 20 bills introduced this year we feel confident that Congress can take this opportunity to lead.”

President Nominates Four FTC Commissioners

President Trump has sent four nominations to the Senate for the Federal Trade Commission.  Rohit Chopra, of New York, Noah Joshua Phillips, of Maryland, and Christine S. Wilson, of Virginia were nominated as Commissioners; Joseph Simons, of Virginia, was nominated to serve as FTC Chairman.   The nominations, if confirmed, would leave one vacancy on the five-member FTC, which has been operating with only one Republican and one Democrat since the departure of former Chairman Edith Ramirez.  Acting Chairman Ohlhausen, who has been nominated by President Trump to a seat on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, said in a statement, “I congratulate Christine Wilson, Noah Phillips and Rohit Chopra on their nominations to serve as Commissioners and Joseph Simons on his nomination as Chairman. I wish them all well in their respective confirmation processes.”

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai also commented on the nominations, extending his congratulations to the nominees and adding: “I look forward to a productive partnership with them on many important consumer issues, including promoting competition and combating illegal robocalls.”  He also congratulated Maureen Ohlhausen on her tenure at the FTC and her nomination to serve as a judge on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims saying: “I applaud Maureen Ohlhausen for her terrific tenure as Acting Chairman of the FTC.  Her legacy is one of strong and thoughtful leadership. If her judicial nomination is confirmed, she will serve with great distinction on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.”

FTC Premerger Notification Filing Thresholds

The Federal Trade Commission announced the revised monetary thresholds that determine whether companies are required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a transaction under Section 7A of the Clayton Act.  For 2018, the size-of-transaction threshold for reporting proposed mergers and acquisitions subject to antitrust enforcement will increase from $80.8 million to $84.4 million.  The new threshold will be effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and will apply to all transactions that close on or after the effective date.  The FTC also revised the monetary thresholds that trigger a prohibition preventing companies from having interlocking memberships on their corporate boards of directors under Section 8 of the Clayton Act.  The 2018 thresholds are $34,395,000 for Section 8(a)(l) and $3,439,500 for Section 8(a)(2)(A).  The new thresholds will be effective upon publication in the Federal Register.  The current threshold amounts are posted on the FTC’s website.  The list will be updated for 2018 once the revised thresholds are published in the Federal Register.

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The Regulatory Mix, Inteserra’s daily blog of telecom related regulatory activities, is a snapshot of PUC, FCC, legislative, and occasionally court issues that our regulatory monitoring team uncovers each day. Depending on their significance, some items may be the subject of an Inteserra Briefing.