Mayor quits FCC committee, says it favors ISPs over the public interest

Enlarge / FCC Chairman Ajit Pai with his oversized coffee mug in November 2017. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

A broadband deployment advisory group organized by the Federal Communications Commission is trying to make it harder for cities and towns to build and operate their own Internet services.

The Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee (BDAC) was set up by the FCC last year and is now releasing draft versions of its recommendations. One member-the mayor of San Jose, California-quit the group today out of frustration that the recommendations favor the interests of private industry over municipalities.

The problem "became particularly apparent at our most recent meeting in Washington, DC," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in his resignation letter.

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