By Malathi Nayak
NEW YORK, Nov 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice of experts to focus on new policies at the Federal Communications Commission signals a regime that will have a "lighter" touch on regulation and be more likely to favor large mergers in telecoms industries, analysts said.
Economist Jeff Eisenach and former Sprint Corp lobbyist Mark Jamison were named by Trump's transition team to oversee hiring and policy for the FCC. They both oppose some recent telecom industry regulations resisted by telecom and cable heavyweights such as Comcast Corp and AT&T Inc and have voiced support for mega mergers in the past.
The FCC is composed of five commissioners, including one designated as chairman, who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Only three commissioners can be from the same political party and Trump's pick for FCC chairman would tip the balance in favor of Republicans.
The addition of Eisenach and Jamison to Trump's "landing team" on Monday come as the Republican president-elect puts together a team to staff various government departments and agencies after he succeeds Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20.
The two appointments are harbingers of "a more typical Republican FCC that is lighter on regulation and more focused on competition," said Roger Entner, an analyst at Recon Analytics. "The focus will be more on reducing regulation than creating new ones."
That would be in stark contrast to the Obama administration's FCC that enacted or proposed a handful of new industry rules and disapproved some proposed combinations, including Comcast's bid for Time Warner Cable and AT&T's attempt to buy T-Mobile.
The FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler, a Democrat, has had a rocky relationship with large telecom companies, some of which strongly opposed the agency's 2015 net neutrality or open internet rules.
The rules, which require internet service providers to treat all data equally and bar them from obstructing or slowing down consumer access to web content, were seen as a major victory for internet businesses like Alphabet Inc's Google that offer services but do not own internet networks.
'PRO-BUSINESS POLICY'
Eisenach has supported mergers such as AT&T and T-Mobile as well as Sprint and T-Mobile that were dismissed by regulators during Obama's administration, according to analysts. He is known in telecom circles for having a "pro-business" mindset, New Street Research analyst Spencer Kurn said.
"Whoever gets picked (as FCC chairman) is likely going to implement a similar pro-business policy," Kurn said.