STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN AJIT PAI
Re: Amendments to Harmonize and Streamline Part 20 of the Commission’s Rules Concerning 
Requirements for Licensees to Overcome a CMRS Presumption, WT Docket No. 16-240.
With today’s Order, we eliminate unnecessary rules that make no sense with today’s flexible use 
approach to licensing.  Specifically, we will no longer presume that certain spectrum bands are being used 
to provide commercial service rather than private service.  Instead, we’ll simply regulate licensees based 
on the nature of the services they are actually providing.  This will eliminate the need for providers 
seeking to offer private service in particular spectrum bands to jump through extra hoops at the 
Commission in order to be regulated as a private service.  But it won’t make any changes to the 
underlying obligations required for either commercial or private service.  
This is as common-sense and good-government a measure as you get, and it finalizes the proposal 
we unanimously adopted just last year.  
Thanks to the staff for their work to help us modernize these rules.  In particular, thanks to Jessica 
Greffenius, Kathy Harris, Roger Noel, Tom Reed, Jennifer Salhus, and Peter Trachtenberg from the 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau; Jennifer Gilsenan and Karl Kensinger from the International 
Bureau; Jim Bradshaw from the Media Bureau; Kristine Fargotstein from the Wireline Competition 
Bureau; Michael Connelly and Michael Wilhelm from the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau; 
Chana Wilkerson from the Office of Communications Business Opportunities; and David Horowitz and 
Anjali Singh from the Office of General Counsel.