Chairman Pai’s Response to Sens Markey, Wyden, and Blumenthal Regarding Practices of Wireless Internet Service Providers

On Feb 6, Sens Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai requesting the FCC "investigate allegations that the four major U.S. mobile carriers are throttling and prioritizing internet traffic without disclosing these practices to their customers, a potential violation of the FCC's transparency rules." On March 29, Chairman Pai responded by saying, "The thrust of your concern appears to be the free-data programs that certain wireless providers offer—often with respect to smartphone-quality video services—that have been available since T-Mobile launched its Binge On service in 2015, as specifically noted in the article you reference. As you know, the Commission has never found such services to violate net neutrality rules, even when the previous Administration treated ISPs like public utilities. Nonetheless, I have asked my staff to forward your request to the Federal Trade Commission, which has long policed the Internet economy for potentially deceptive and unfair practices and has the responsibility for doing so today."