With Perspective From Both Sides of His Desk, FCC Chairman Ponders Network Neutrality

Almost a year into the job, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has established a record as a formidable opponent to the industries he used to represent. He was handed the issue of network neutrality two months into his tenure, when a federal appeals court threw out FCC rules enacted in 2010 that forbade broadband providers from blocking or discriminating against any legal content. The court said the FCC was treating broadband companies too much like regulated utilities. Those invalidated rules also discouraged content providers from paying for priority access through a broadband company’s pipes.

But when Chairman Wheeler released a new set of rules, that provision was missing, leading many critics to say that the new regime violated net neutrality by allowing for paid prioritization -- so-called fast lanes through a broadband company’s systems. New rules are expected to be adopted by the end of the year. Chairman Wheeler has said several times that he does not believe fast lanes are consistent with an open Internet. Many consumer organizations say Chairman Wheeler could have taken a stronger stand against cable groups. “So far, the discussion has not been as productive as we would have liked,” said Matt Wood, policy director at Free Press. “The rhetoric has been good, but the reality of the proposal hasn’t matched that.”