UPDATE The FCC’s move to reinstate common carrier regulation (Title II) on broadband ISPs met some support outside the agency, and also criticism.
Before FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel unveiled the plan Tuesday to vote on net neutrality at the October 19 meeting, Commissioner Brendan Carr issued a statement saying he agreed with President Obama’s top attorneys that the change was not needed, Inside Towers reported. Once the details were out, he expanded on his thoughts, calling the plan “unlawful.” Continue Reading
“The American people want more freedom on the Internet—not greater government controls over their online lives,” stated Carr. He noted that since the previous FCC’s decision to repeal net neutrality in 2017, “broadband speeds in the U.S. are up, prices are down, competition has increased, and record-breaking broadband builds brought millions of Americans across the digital divide.”
Wireless Internet Service Providers Association VP Policy Louis Peraertz said the association believes Title II rules aren’t needed for a vibrant broadband marketplace. “Though Title II would allow access to poles, conduits and rights-of-way for broadband providers – something not automatically granted to ISPs today – its cost, and what it augurs for the future of regulation, outweigh that benefit. Quite simply, Title II is for a bygone time, not for a time when companies are actively competing for broadband customers and the government is prepared to provide billions in funding for broadband deployment.”
In contrast, Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Society Senior Counselor for the Benton Institute for Broadband, explained that, “as Rosenworcel stressed, applying Title II to broadband internet access service means net neutrality. But that is just one reason it is so important to restore the FCC’s broadband authority. Title II also empowers the FCC to address a number of issues that are important to the national and public interest.” He’s referring to the increased network security components of the proposal, Inside Towers reported.
INCOMPAS, the Internet and Competitive Networks Association, CEO Chip Pickering said the group notes the “rush to build more broadband, and broadband competition is spreading.” INCOMPAS continues “to believe Congress should establish a permanent and predictable internet policy framework. Until that happens, INCOMPAS supports Commission action that provides limited authority over broadband, prohibits rate regulation of broadband prices, promotes competition and technology transitions, ensures access to poles and multi-tenant environments, and puts the Universal Service Fund on a sustainable path forward.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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