Net Neutrality Rule Will Get Scrutiny From FCC Republicans

Republicans poised to control the Federal Communications Commission next month said they’d revisit the net neutrality regulation “as soon as possible,“ laying out plans to address a rule they’ve opposed and that Democrats support, according to Bloomberg.

The statement from Commissioners Ajit Pai and Michael O’Rielly indicates that opponents of the rule such as top broadband providers AT&T and Comcast may not need to wait for Congress to grapple with the regulation that requires equal treatment of web traffic. Web companies such as Netflix and Google have supported the rule backed by Democratic President Barack Obama.

The FCC’s Democratic Chairman, Tom Wheeler, is leaving office as President-elect Donald Trump takes office Jan. 20, and his departure adds to vulnerability for the rule passed with only Democratic votes last year. As his tenure ends, Wheeler’s FCC is citing the net neutrality rule as a basis for questioning the free-data wireless plans offered by Verizon and AT&T.

Pai and O’Rielly laid out their plan in a letter to trade groups concerned with shielding small businesses from portions of the net neutrality rule that require internet service providers to divulge details about network performance, including speed, delays and dropped information. The businesses said it takes expensive equipment to meet that demand.

The Republican commissioners said they wouldn’t support action against small business internet service providers for “supposed non-compliance“ with the disclosure rules. “We will seek to revisit those particular requirements, and the Title II Net Neutrality proceeding more broadly, as soon as possible,“ the two commissioners wrote. Title II refers to a section of law used as the basis for FCC authority for the net neutrality rule. Mark Wigfield, an FCC spokesman, declined to comment on the letter.