Net Neutrality Reactions Are Sharp Before Draft Proposal's Release

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel defended an anticipated proceeding that will kick off the commission's efforts to reestablish net neutrality rules (see 2309260047). "We've made it a national policy to make sure broadband reaches everyone, everywhere," she said during a Wednesday Axios event: "I think we should make it a national policy to make sure it's open and not just leave this issue to the states." Rosenworcel in an FCC note also previewed the draft item to be released Thursday, saying commissioners will vote next month on a proposal to begin the process of restoring the FCC’s "overwhelmingly popular" rules.

The proposal would also classify broadband as a telecom service under Title II of the Communications Act, Rosenworcel wrote. The reclassification would "reassert the FCC’s role as the country’s leading communications watchdog over national security and public safety on our broadband networks," she said: "It will set a uniform, national framework for internet standards without having a patchwork of state regulations."

Congressional Democrats hailed the move. The FCC’s “new Democratic majority has already shown its commitment to democratic values with” Rosenworcel’s announcement, said Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash. “Americans deserve a free, open internet. They deserve net neutrality. I hope to see the Commission quickly move to finalize this action and correct the damage of 2017 and protect it for all our communities.” Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., said she’s “pleased that the FCC is following the lead of California, which has enforced net neutrality across the state since 2021” (see 2205050041) and “is now taking steps to revive these protections which drive innovation, expand our economy, and promote free speech and our democracy.”

Senate Commerce Committee ranking member Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blasted Rosenworcel Tuesday for seeking the Title II reinstatement. “Instead of allowing broadband investment to flourish,” the Biden administration “FCC wants to move backwards and reinstate failed Obama-era net neutrality rules that treat the Internet as a public utility controlled by the federal government,” Cruz said: “FCC Democrats are laughably plowing ahead even though their histrionic predictions of doom and gloom after the repeal of Obama-era rules in 2017 turned out to be completely bogus.” Rather “than give legitimate reasons for another policy reversal, it’s clear FCC Democrats simply want control,” he said. “They desperately want to micromanage providers’ pricing and terms of service, and collect billions in new USF taxes at the expense of investment, economic growth, and consumer choice.”

Industry experts offered a mixed reaction to Rosenworcel's announcement, speaking during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. The current commission is "very thoughtful [and] very deliberate," said Incompas CEO Chip Pickering, adding he was hopeful commissioners would have a "very thoughtful discussion" and be "much more civil and collaborative than in the past." The internet "was not meant to be a state-by-state framework," Pickering noted.

The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) was "very pleased" with Rosenworcel's statement, said Chief of Staff Stephanie Joyce. "I think what we're seeing in the last 36 hours is a little bit of net neutrality fatigue," Joyce said, but "what we know is that the courts are ready to affirm any reasonable FCC order explicating the need for these rules, the proper tailoring of the rules, and the FCC's return" to classifying broadband as a telecom service.

The effort to reignite net neutrality "seems to be a solution in search of a problem," said Wireless ISP Association CEO David Zumwalt. The debate around net neutrality is more "political theater" than a policy debate, said TechFreedom President Berin Szoka. "The legal question is whether the FCC has the authority to reclassify broadband" as a Title II service, Szoka said, "but it's important to note" that case didn't reach the U.S. Supreme Court because the previous commission repealed its rules. "I just wouldn't look at the current broadband system that we have right now and say it needs a whole new regulatory regime to make it look more like your electric company," said Joe Kane, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation director-broadband and spectrum policy.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr released another statement Wednesday opposing new net neutrality rules, saying the record shows broadband is thriving and calling the proposal “unlawful.” Carr cited a July 2021 executive order from President Joe Biden as the motivation for the latest push. Biden “called on the FCC to apply vast and expansive government controls to the Internet,” Carr said: “This is part of the Administration’s plan for imposing new, utility-style ‘net neutrality’ regulations under Title II.”

“Six years ago, Americans lived through one of the most Orwellian campaigns in regulatory history,” Carr said: “They were told that the 2017 decision by my Republican FCC colleagues and me to overturn the Obama Administration’s failed, two-year experiment with government control of the Internet would mark ‘The End of the internet as we know it’ and that ‘you’ll get the internet one word at a time.’ None of the Apocalyptic predictions came to pass. Quite the opposite.”

MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett said Wednesday that Title II reclassification and opening the door to rate regulation are "not something investors should worry about" since the Supreme Court likely would shoot it down. There aren't meaningful examples of net neutrality violations in the past, nor are providers making money off prioritization today or planning offerings that would violate net neutrality in the future, he said.

A net neutrality rethink “isn’t needed,” said Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady at the Mobile World Congress Wednesday: “We listen to what our customers want from us. We provide broadband service to them the way they want, and it’s a competitive market.” Net neutrality rules address “a theoretical problem that can happen” but has never been a real-world issue for consumers, he said.

“Wireless providers each year offer consumers faster speeds and greater choice for home and mobile broadband, over more reliable and open networks, at prices that are dramatically lower than just a few years ago,” CTIA President Meredith Baker said. “These results are due in part to a regulatory framework that fosters investment, spurs innovation, creates jobs, and drives economic growth,” Baker said: “Rather than the regulatory uncertainty created by [Tuesday’s] FCC announcement, we urge Congress to establish permanent rules to maintain a pro-consumer framework that allows wireless services to flourish and continues to drive new levels of 5G innovation and investment.”