Levin not rattled by regulation fight

Even though a federal court decision against the Federal Communications Commission in April called into question the commission's authority to regulate Internet companies, Blair Levin, the former head of the agency's broadband task force, said much of it would ultimately remain intact.

Proposals to take stock of the country's unused spectrum and auction off unused portions of it to wireless providers is not "really a Title I or Title II thing," Levin explained. He said the same of the agency's goal of increasing broadband Internet adoption nationwide. But the former FCC official did note that the commission's plans to expand high-speed Internet access to low-income consumers might be hard to implement, now that the FCC cannot exert direct, explicit authority over the companies that provide it. He soon added, though, "I'm not worried about it," albeit noting to audience members at Computer & Communications Industry Association's Washington Summit that the court case left Chairman Julius Genachowski with "a lot of bad options."