The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) has voiced its concerns regarding the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) approach to merger reviews. Following the FCC's approval of the Verizon-Frontier merger, Joe Kane, ITIF’s director of broadband and spectrum policy, issued a statement addressing the matter.
Kane emphasized that while approving the transaction was appropriate, "the Commission should stop tying the approval of mergers to the chairman’s view of companies’ human resources practices." He argued that such practices represent "mission creep and undermine the FCC’s position as an expert agency in communications matters."
The ITIF has maintained that FCC merger reviews should be narrowly focused on their statutory basis. The organization contends that "the FCC should not become a generalized civil rights authority" and believes that pro-consumer mergers should be approved without involving partisan social issues.
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