"Completing the transition to a digital world...it sounds great. I think everybody here is on board with that. So why does it matter - not just to you in this room, but why does it matter to entrepreneurs, consumers and people who want better job opportunities in the 21st century economy and a real chance to succeed in America's thriving middle class? It matters because the future of telecommunications and the services that the middle class uses are going digital. The future is an Internet Protocol-based world. And therefore we, as policymakers, must put the right policies in place for broadband networks, for wireless Internet, and for the global Internet ecosystem to ensure that legacy laws and regulations don't deprive the middle class of the opportunities that will come along with the digital world."  

"But we have static laws and legacy regulations that were applied to analog networks in the twentieth century's more monopolistic environment. That are now applied to technologies operating in a converged marketplace....Legacy regulations written in 1996 could not have contemplated the multi-faceted, IP world we have  today."

"But we should not limit ourselves to focusing on the finish line, only because we don't know where that line will be or what it will look like. Telecommunications is moving that fast. We have to be forward thinking, and we have to take the long term view. I believe that is how we ensure that telecommunications is leading our economic growth and opportunity, and providing a path to the middle class for millions of Americans."

During the conversation, Commissioner Pai discussed his regulatory philosophy, reforming FCC processes, the FCC's IP Transition proceeding, broadband policy, net neutrality mandates, spectrum auctions, video regulation, and much more.