Trump Team Appoints Net Neutrality Naysayers for FCC Transition

The Trump team has confirmed two appointments with a history of anti-net neutrality sentiment to drive the policy agenda of the new administration's FCC.

One of the new advisors, Jeff Eisenach, is an economist who has worked as a consultant for Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) and the GSM Association (GSMA) , according to the New York Times. In September 2014, Eisenach told a Senate Judiciary Committee that "net neutrality would not improve consumer welfare or protect the public interest," the paper noted.

The other appointment, Mark Jamison, was the director of regulatory policy at Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) in the 1990s, and is currently the director of the Public Utility Research Center at the University of Florida. He has written extensively on net neutrality.

President-elect Trump shares the anti-net neutrality stance. Two years ago he tweeted:

The appointments to the transition team appears to put net neutrality back on the front burner at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) . Trump could appoint a new FCC chair as soon as he takes office on January 21, replacing current chairman, Tom Wheeler.

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— Dan Jones, Mobile Editor, Light Reading