A proposal by the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission to regulate Internet access could derail broadband investment and hurt consumers, two of the agency’s commissioners said Wednesday in Denver.
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, a Democrat, disclosed plans three weeks ago to reclassify the “transmission component of broadband access” as a regulated telecommunications service.
The announcement came a month after a federal appeals court ruled that the agency can’t require network operators such as Comcast to give equal treatment to the Internet traffic traveling over their lines.
Commissioner Meredith Baker, a Republican, said Wednesday that creating regulatory uncertainty over broadband services could drive away investments, pegged at $120 billion over the past two years.
“Are people really going to invest in this sector of the economy when we are unleashing this uncertainty?” Baker said to a group of business officials at an event organized by the Independence Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Golden. “It really is dangerous even just having this conversation.”
Fellow Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said Genachowski’s plan “will have big problems at the appellate level.”
Specific details about Genachowski’s proposal haven’t been released, but McDowell said he expects to receive a draft today. He believes it will show that the chairman wants to treat Internet service as a “Ma Bell voice-phone monopoly.”
Genachowski has said his plans don’t include regulating online content.
Public-interest groups say giving regulators some authority over network operators is key to achieving the Obama administration’s goal of providing broadband access to all Americans.
Genachowski’s proposal includes “reorienting” a federal fund that subsidizes phone service in rural and poor communities to support the broadband plan.
Online companies such as Google and eBay have pushed for “network neutrality” policies over fears that unregulated broadband providers will become gatekeepers of Internet content and block consumer access to certain sites.
Opponents say such policies are a solution in search of a problem.
McDowell said competition to traditional network operators is already on the horizon.
“Wireless broadband is really the great new frontier in broadband,” McDowell said. “It’s in its infancy, but there are test beds for up to 100 megs.”
The FCC consists of five commissioners: three Democrats and two Republicans.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209, avuong@denverpost.com or
