“This assertion of authority without solid statutory underpinnings will yield continued uncertainty for industry, innovators and investors. “Based on today’s announcement, the FCC appears to assert broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband wireline and wireless networks and the internet itself,” Tom Tauke, Verizon’s executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, said in a statement. Just minutes after the meeting ended, Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile provider in the country, said it was “deeply concerned” by the FCC’s move. Industry experts predict that the rules face almost certain challenge in federal court. In fact, the order goes so far as to actually create a new category of internet service - so called “specialized services.” Today’s order does not formally extend the protections to wireless networks, nor does it prohibit so-called “paid prioritization,” in which the broadband companies could create high-speed, high-priced fast lanes for premium customers. That would have given the commission clear authority to enforce net neutrality, but opponents likened it to returning to the days of government regulation of the phone network. In April, a federal judge ruled that the FCC’s legal basis for the order was inadequate, essentially neutering the agency’s ability to regulate internet access providers.Ĭomcast, AT&T and Verizon had vigorously opposed an earlier FCC plan - which still technically exists on the FCC docket, which would have reclassified broadband as a communications service. The need for the new rules largely stemmed from Comcast’s court challenge to the FCC, after the regulatory agency ordered Comcast to never again block peer-to-peer file sharing. “Most importantly, this approach removes the cloud of Title II regulation that would unquestionably have harmed innovation and investment in the Internet and broadband infrastructure.” “While we look forward to reviewing the final order, the rules as described generally appear intended to strike a workable balance between the needs of the marketplace for certainty and everyone’s desire that internet openness be preserved,” Comcast executive vice president David L.
Without net neutrality - which ensures that everyone has open access to the internet - revolutionary web startups like Google, Facebook and Twitter may never have gotten off the ground, proponents argue. The FCC’s order is a milestone in the multiyear battle over so-called “net neutrality,” which is the principle that broadband service providers shouldn’t be able to interfere with or block web traffic, or favor their own services at the expense of smaller rivals. The measure, which passed 3-2 along party lines, did not go as far as supporters would have liked, but the FCC faced steep resistance from Republicans and the powerful telecom lobbying machine. In a closely watched vote, the Federal Communications Commission approved compromise net neutrality rules Tuesday that would forbid the nation’s largest cable and DSL internet service providers from blocking or slowing online services, while leaving wireless companies with much more latitude.Īfter five years of contentious debate that polarized the tech-policy world, FCC chief Julius Genachowski made good on President Barack Obama’s campaign pledge to strengthen rules governing the nation’s ISPs.
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