The Federal Communications Commission will vote on whether to restore net neutrality during its open meeting April 25, which it said would bring back a national standard for broadband reliability, security and consumer protection. The proposal, from chair Jessica Rosenworcel, would ensure that broadband services are treated as an essential resource deserving of FCC oversight under Title II authority. Three commissioners (a majority) have already indicated their support for the measure.
The FCC said the proposal would see the commission play a key role in preventing broadband providers from blocking or slowing down internet service or creating pay-to-play fast lanes; would provide oversight of broadband outages; would boost security of broadband networks; would increase consumer protections; and would restore a national standard to keep access “fast, open and fair.”
Also Read: FCC Ups Benchmark For Broadband Speed
“The pandemic proved once and for all that broadband is essential,” Rosenworcel said. “After the prior administration abdicated authority over broadband services, the FCC has been handcuffed from acting to fully secure broadband networks, protect consumer data, and ensure the internet remains fast, open, and fair. A return to the FCC’s overwhelmingly popular and court-approved standard of net neutrality will allow the agency to serve once again as a strong consumer advocate of an open internet.”
Also Read: Cable ISPs Look to Shape Expected Return of FCC's Net Neutrality Rules
NCTA–The Internet & Television Association, the cable trade association, wasn't pleased. “In the absence of any harm, the FCC is barreling ahead with a backward-looking, unnecessary proposal. Its repeated legal flip-flopping has become a tiresome political ritual unmoored from congressional direction that radically upends what should be a stable regulatory environment,” it said in a statement by president and CEO Michael Powell. “But this time, reimposing heavy-handed regulation will not just hobble network investment and innovation, it will also seriously jeopardize our nation’s collective efforts to build and sustain reliable broadband in rural and unserved communities. We urge the FCC to reverse course to avoid years of litigation and uncertainty.”
Independent communications consortium ACA Connects, for one, called the proposal unwarranted. “The FCC should be celebrating and empowering smaller and independent broadband providers, not seeking to tie their hands with century-old common carrier regulations,” ACA Connects president and CEO Grant Spellmeyer said. “Today, these providers ARE upholding the principles of an open internet and delivering unfettered, affordable, and faster services to their customers. This is in large part thanks to America’s competitive marketplace and its time-tested, balanced regulatory approach.”
ACA also pointed to statements by Republican commissioner Brendan Carr at an ACA event on March 6, when Carr said this to Spellmeyer about reapplying Title II regulations to broadband providers: “It’s a reaction to a market power dynamic that hasn’t existed in decades. It doesn’t make sense that the debate has crystalized to protect edge providers like Apple, Amazon and Meta from small broadband providers. ... Relitigating Title II is looking at a rearview mirror, while ignoring real other threats.”
The commission, meanwhile, posted a video on X (formerly Twitter) to help make the case for net neutrality.
Rosenworcel will circulate her proposal to her fellow commissioners for their review. A draft will be made public on FCC.gov. The April 25 meeting will be open to the public and streamed live at www.fcc.gov/live.
