Network Neutrality
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_2_445.png?itok=MTw4euYh)
Benton Institute Welcomes Step Towards Net Neutrality
By restoring broadband as subject to the Commission's authority under Title II of the Communications Act, the FCC will assure that a handful of powerful telecommunications companies will not favor themselves and their business partners over consumers, non-profits and small businesses who also seek to speak and to receive information over the internet. However, this is about much more than blocking and throttling; it is also about public safety, national security and privacy.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/fcc-official-logo-tn_816.jpg?itok=ZoUtFc3V)
FCC to Vote on Restoring Net Neutrality
Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced the FCC will vote during its April Open Meeting to restore Net Neutrality, which would bring back a national standard for broadband reliability, security, and consumer protection. If adopted, the Chairwoman’s proposal would ensure that broadband services are treated as an essential resource deserving of FCC oversight under Title II authority. If adopted, the proposal would:
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/freepress_23.png?itok=0LxQPr0P)
Refuting Bogus Broadband Lobby Claims that Title II Harms Investment in Networks
The claim that restoring light-touch Title II authority and basic Open Internet rules would harm—or did harm, from 2015 through 2018—ISPs’ broadband network investments is extraordinary. Not only because mountains of evidence from the ISPs themselves demonstrate its falsity; it is also extraordinary because the mechanism by which this supposed harm would occur is illogical and unreasonable, and has been proven ever more outlandish over time. ISPs exist to generate economic returns for their shareholders.
5G slices are a net neutrality loophole, critics argue
There are growing concerns among some lobbyists that 5G network operators will be able to use network slicing technology to evade the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) proposed net neutrality rules.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/benton_8.png?itok=10CKvo_c)
How is the FCC Working to Protect Broadband Consumers?
The Biden Administration has launched a new effort to lower costs and promote competition for US consumers. The Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing––co-chaired by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)––aims to strengthen interagency efforts to root out and stop illegal corporate behavior that hikes prices on consumers through anti-competitive, unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent business practices.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/aei_9.png?itok=dkrmIvB0)
Net Neutrality and the Future of State Broadband Regulation
Once Democrats finally secured a 3-2 majority in the Federal Communications Commission, the agency lost no time in approving a long-anticipated proposal to reintroduce net neutrality by reclassifying broadband providers as common carriers. While its commitment to reclassification seems unwavering, the agency has equivocated about the preemptive effect of agency action.
Net neutrality protections are essential to advancing digital equity. These rules ensure all internet users have access to content on an equal basis and prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from blocking, throttling, or engaging in paid prioritization of content. In November 2023, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed reinstating net neutrality protections, returning to rules originally adopted in 2015, by establishing broadband internet access service (BIAS) as a Title II telecommunications service.
![](https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/public/phoenix%20center_0.png?itok=5xCMtU00)
The Federal Communications Commission’s Section 706 Problem
Section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 has played a recurring supplemental role in the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) efforts to reclassify Broadband Internet Access Services as a Title II common carrier telecommunications service under the auspices of Net Neutrality. Section 706 instructs the Commission to encourage the “reasonable and timely” deployment of broadband services to all Americans.
Netflix Urges Federal Communications Commission To Pass Open Internet Rules
Netflix argued that the future of streaming video will turn on whether the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bans broadband providers from tampering with online traffic. “Today’s online entertainment marketplace is intensely competitive, which benefits consumers,” the streaming video company wrote in comments filed with the FCC.
Cable Internet Service Providers Look To Shape Expected Return of FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules
Likely seeing the re-regulatory handwriting on the wall, cable internet service providers have told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just how it should reclassify broadband as a Title II service and what it should and shouldn’t do when it reimposes new net neutrality rules, as it is expected to do after a suitable timespan following the public comment period on its reclassification proposal. NCTA – The Internet & Television Association, joined by over a half-dozen state associations, said if the FCC goes ahead with the plan, it should do the following: