Public Servant

Without having to ask anyone's permission, innovators everywhere used the Internet's open platform to start companies that have transformed how billions of people live and work.

To those who wish to shape the nation's political dialogue, social media is dangerous.

Consumers fare best when the barriers to business entry are low, which helps ensure that the market - any market - becomes competitive and stays that way.

In my first remarks as Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to the agency's terrific staff, I stressed that one of my top priorities would be to close the digital divide - the gap between those who use cutting-edge communications services and those who do not.

Rules designed for the Ma Bell monopoly during the era of rotary phones were a poor fit for the greatest innovation of our time, the Internet.

Gigabit Opportunity Zones would enable Americans to become participants in, rather than spectators of, the digital economy. They would be a powerful solution to the digital divide. I hope our elected officials will give the idea serious consideration.

Forty-six years after my parents' journey from India, here I am, the grandson of a spare auto parts salesman and a file clerk, tapped by the President of the United States to be the nation's chief communications regulator.

The Internet has enriched my own life immeasurably.

To bring the benefits of the digital age to all Americans, the FCC needs to make it easier for companies to build and expand broadband networks. We need to reduce the cost of broadband deployment, and we need to eliminate unnecessary rules that slow down or deter deployment.

Everyone believes that artificial or prerecorded calls - 'robocalls,' as they're known - are awful. They're intrusive. They're unwanted.

You may never need them, but if you do, they'll be there. It's that bedrock promise of protection that makes our public safety officials the unsung heroes that they are.

My view is that the Internet should be run by engineers and entrepreneurs, not lawyers and bureaucrats.

One of the great joys of my job is having the privilege of meeting people from all across the country and hearing their stories.

The FCC, under my leadership, will stand for the First Amendment.

I'm a lawyer by training, of course.

Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast.

Broadband Internet access service is inherently an interstate service, and that is not a determination that just the FCC has made.

Broadband Internet access shouldn't depend on who you are or where you're from.

Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria each caused billions of dollars in damage, claimed the lives of many Americans, and disrupted millions more. They also reminded us how important communications networks can be during emergencies - and that the FCC has a role to play in helping keep people safe.

The bottom line is this: I want America to be at the forefront of innovation in the broadcast sector, the wireless sector, and every other sector of the communications industry.