Former FCC Chairman Wheeler: Things are 'going the way I feared'

A month into the new Federal Communications Commission administration, former FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, "It's going the way I feared." In particular, Wheeler points to the FCC taking steps to weaken network neutrality. As chairman, Wheeler slammed wireless companies like AT&T for violating net neutrality rules by letting customers stream content from its video service, DirecTV, without counting toward data plans. That effectively makes third-party video services more costly. But this month, the FCC dropped all investigations into the issue.

Chairman Ajit Pai's FCC also voted recently to undo a net neutrality transparency rule requiring smaller broadband providers to disclose details on data caps and fees. "Conservatives used to be against letting big companies determine who gets on the broadcast airwaves, but now they are for allowing big companies to determine who gets on the Internet [and] on what terms," Wheeler said. "It seems to me the lobbyists are winning out over core principles here," he added.