FCC chairman offers his strongest endorsement yet of network neutrality

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler has made the most forceful defense yet of his agency's rules that prohibit Internet providers from prioritizing some types of Internet traffic over others.

In an address at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View (CA), Chairman Wheeler argued for an enforceable set of Internet regulations that could be applied on a case-by-case basis to alleged violations of the FCC's order, which was approved in 2011. "Public policy should protect the great driving force of the open Internet: how it allows innovation without permission," said Chairman Wheeler. "This is why it is essential that the FCC continue to maintain an open Internet and maintain the legal ability to intervene promptly and effectively in the event of aggravated circumstances." That's the clearest statement the new chairman has made on the topic of network neutrality. Wheeler's expressed support for the policy before. But he's mostly done so in the kind of pro forma way you'd expect any bureaucrat to behave when confronted with a rule he's inherited. Now he's saying that trusting businesses to ensure an open Internet isn't a reliable strategy by itself -- and that the regulations have their own role to play in that process.

Chairman Wheeler also said tech companies had a part to play in encouraging TV stations to participate in incentive auctions because it would mean more opportunities for tech to gain access to unlicensed spectrum. He suggested that rather than allocate parts of the wireless spectrum for single uses, as the government used to do, the FCC should consider allowing different applications to coexist on the same part of the spectrum band -- particularly in the area above 3.5 GHz.

Chairman Wheeler signaled that the FCC would be soliciting proposals in its open meeting on Jan. 30 from phone companies to establish test sites for the transition from phone networks to Internet networks.