FCC Chief Defends Secret Meetings

The country's chief telecommunications regulator defended the use of secret meetings during merger reviews, in response to criticism from Comcast Corp. and a U.S. senator in recent weeks, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In an open letter Wednesday, Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said the FCC has allowed for parties to discuss concerns about a transaction privately since "at least 1997" under a rule that provides a "limited opportunity" to those who don't want to comment publicly "due to fear of possible reprisal or retribution."

Mr. Wheeler pointed out that there are also other ways that companies can present their concerns to the FCC without disclosing their meetings publicly, including by visiting the agency after a transaction is announced but before the public comment period begins.

He was responding to a letter sent last week by Sen. Dean Heller (R., Nev.) requesting information regarding any confidential meetings the FCC has had with media companies as part of its review of the pending AT&T-DirecTV  and Comcast-Time Warner Cable Inc. merger deals. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the FCC was encouraging many of the biggest media companies that have remained relatively silent publicly about the Comcast merger to offer feedback confidentially.

Sen. Heller and Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen had expressed concern about the prospect of such secret feedback influencing the FCC's decision about a merger. Mr. Wheeler emphasized Wednesday that the FCC "uses only information that is placed on the record" in making a final decision about whether to allow a merger to go through.

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