The U.S. Federal Communication Commission is signaling that it intends to adopt President Barack Obama’s proposal to keep the Internet open when the independent agency votes on rules next month.
FCC officials working on the issue under Chairman Tom Wheeler are asking questions they would only ask if they were taking the direction Obama is seeking, such as how to regulate wireless service, said one person involved in discussions with the agency.
Obama in November called for “the strongest possible rules” to regulate Internet service, including a ban on so-called fast lanes. In doing so, he joined the ranks of Internet startups, public interest groups and more than 105,000 people who signed a petition to the White House calling for an open-Internet policy. The rules would ensure service providers treat Web traffic equally — a concept known as net neutrality.
The president’s intervention appears to be driving policy deliberations on net neutrality,Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) said in documents filed in recent weeks with the FCC. The cable-television company, which opposes the proposal and is one of the nation’s largest high-speed Internet providers, suggested steps to soften the blow.
Such an acknowledgment “gives you strong reason to believe it’s headed that way,” said Gene Kimmelman, president of the Washington-based policy group Public Knowledge, who supports Obama’s utility-style rules. “I’m optimistic.”
Fast Lanes
The FCC deliberations follow a year of debate since a court rejected the agency’s rules to guarantee Web traffic is treated fairly by Internet service providers led by Comcast,AT&T Inc. (T) and Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) In May, Wheeler proposed allowing the fast lanes Obama opposes, and he has backed using less-sweeping authority than the president called for.
Wheeler was noncommittal after Obama issued his statement favoring net-neutrality, saying the independent agency would incorporate the president’s view into the record. The FCC is to vote Feb. 26 on rules Wheeler, a Democrat, will propose to fellow commissioners. He needs three votes from the five-member commission, where Democrats hold the majority.
“The conventional wisdom appears to be that the president had some influence, for better or worse, depending on your perspective,” said Fred Campbell, a former Republican FCC official who opposes Obama’s plan as a damper to investment.
Light Regulation
Internet service providers and Republican allies in Congress say the Web has thrived with light regulation, and that Obama’s proposed utility-style rules aren’t needed and may lead to price regulation. Web companies including startups and video provider Netflix Inc. (NFLX) say rules are needed to make sure traffic isn’t blocked or slowed on its way to consumers. They’re backed by congressional Democrats.
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable provider, which has proposed buying No. 2 Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC), said in the Dec. 24 filing that it opposes Obama’s plan to subject Internet service to a part of the communications law known as Title II, written last century to regulate phone service over copper wires.
“The president’s endorsement of Title II appears to be driving the commission’s interest,” Comcast said in the filing.
Neil Grace, an FCC spokesman, declined to comment. Wheeler is scheduled to appear today at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Comcast’s Suggestion
Even if the FCC declares Internet service to be subject to Title II, it should pledge to use a less-intrusive set of regulations, Comcast said. The approach aims to give the FCC the firm legal foundation the court said it lacks.
“Whenever I see Comcast and other opponents of Title II arguing in the alternative — how to do Title II — it warms my heart,” Kimmelman said.
“The letter speaks for itself showing all the issues a Title II regime would require,” Sena Fitzmaurice, a Washington-based spokeswoman for Comcast, said in an e-mail.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, the largest U.S. cable trade group, which counts Comcast as a member, in a Dec. 23 filing also said the FCC should avoid regulations that could lead to price control even if it chooses Obama’s path.
CTIA-The Wireless Association, a Washington-based trade group with members including the top four U.S. wireless carriers — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Corp. and T-Mobile US Inc. (TMUS) — in a blog post yesterday said the law doesn’t allow mobile broadband to be regulated by the rules Obama advocated. Wheeler in September said the agency was considering whether mobile Web service deserves lighter regulation than broadband sent over wires.
Political Fight
The FCC vote may provoke a fight with congressional Republicans, who control the House and Senate following last fall’s election.
Republican Senator John Thune, the incoming chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said regulating broadband providers as utilities under the 1934 Communication Act’s Title II “will create a lot of problems.”
Such an approach is “not the direction” the new Republican majority in Congress wants the FCC to take for regulating Web traffic, said Thune, of South Dakota. “We are not going to support that.”
At a Nov. 14 policy forum in Washington, RepresentativeBob Latta, an Ohio Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that oversees the FCC, said Obama’s proposal “threatens our thriving Internet economy.”
Congress doesn’t control the FCC. Lawmakers on a majority vote of both houses could nullify a regulation, and Obama in turn may veto the nullification — an outcome that would leave the rule standing.
Opponents also may ask a U.S. court to void the FCC’s rule.