FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler made an appearance at CES on Wednesday, during which he hinted that the agency was leaning towards taking a rather controversial approach to net neutrality.
Wheeler said he would circulate his net neutrality plan to his fellow commissioners on Feb. 5, which they will vote on during a Feb. 26 open commission meeting. Wheeler declined to lay out exactly what that plan will entail, but said that the FCC has been conducting a "robust investigation" into the concept of Title II, or re-classifying broadband service as a telecom service rather than an information service.
"There is a way to do Title II right," Wheeler said during a conversation with Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES.
President Obama publicly backed Title II in November, and Wheeler on Wednesday denied that the president's statement was out of sync with the FCC's work. Reports like that "made for good headlines, but wasn't exactly reality because [Obama and the FCC are] both pulling in the same direction, which is no blocking, no throttling of applications, no paid prioritization, and transparency," Wheeler said.
We'll find out next month exactly what Wheeler believes might stick. At CES, the chairman said he'd been looking at how the wireless industry is regulated under Title II, an arrangement that he helped broker as a wireless lobbyist 20 years ago. And despite that regulation, "the wireless industry has been monumentally successful," he said.
CTIA, the wireless industry trade association, told The Wall Street Journal that the characterization was a bit off since the wireless industry is regulated under Title II for voice, not data.
The wireless industry and ISPs have voiced strong concern with Title II, which would give the FCC more authority to regulate them. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) said Title II would be "net disaster" rather than net neutrality - and they use this graphic, which should give you an idea of how they feel about the situation.
Wheeler acknowledged that "there are many parts of Title II that are inappropriate, and would thwart investment." But ultimately, the FCC wants to make sure that "innovators and consumers have open access to the networks" while also making sure that "you're creating an environment that provides sufficient incentive for the ISPs to want to invest [and] build more and better networks."
"That's the path we've been going down and that's what we're going to be delivering in February," Wheeler said today.
Congress is also kicking around some ideas; two Democrats this week unveiled a bill that would ban paid prioritization, while Politico reports that some members are talking about a bipartisan compromise, but don't hold your breath.
For more, check out video of Wheeler's CES appearance.