FCC chair prefers to keep framework for broadband unchanged: sources

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski is leaning toward keeping the current regulatory framework for broadband services in place, after a federal court decision last month showed weaknesses in the agency's legal status over broadband service providers.

Three sources at the agency said that FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski hasn't made a final decision on whether the commission would change the legal framework for broadband services ­ a key question as the FCC attempts to create an open Internet rule and bring broadband services to all Americans. But in recent discussions, the sources said Genachowski has indicated he is less inclined to define broadband as common carrier service like regular copper wire phone services, which are clearly under the FCC's oversight. The chairman was concerned that a move to that regime, called Title II, would be overly burdensome on carriers, they said. Yet he was also concerned that the current framework would lead to constant legal challenges to the FCC's authority every time it attempted to pursue a broadband policy.