The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is expected to announce a plan to begin taking apart “net neutrality” on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
While details are sparse, both Axios and Recode on Monday cited multiple sources who said Ajit Pai will lay out the groundwork for dismantling the Obama-era rules that subjected Internet service providers to the regulations that govern utilities, during a speech at an event held by the conservative advocacy group FreedomWorks.
Pai isn’t likely to describe how he plans to replace net neutrality, sources told Recode, but he is reaching out to technology and telecom companies and public-interest advocates about a more lenient plan. Pai has expressed a willingness to make adhering to the regulations voluntary for companies Comcast and AT&T, while leaving any disputes to be handled by the Federal Trade Commission.
An FCC spokesperson confirmed only that Pai will deliver a speech Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. on “The Future of Internet Regulation,” and hosted by FreedomWorks.
Pai, a former attorney for Verizon and longtime critic of the regulations, has said he wants to take a “weed whacker” to net neutrality. Under his chairmanship, the FCC has already weakened net neutrality by extending a transparency exemption to small Internet service providers that allows them to refuse to publicly disclose promotional rates, fees or data caps for the next five years.
Pai revealed last week that he met with Silicon Valley leaders to discuss ways to protect consumers. He also responded to a report that he met with the Internet Association, a trade group representing companies such as Facebook, Google and Amazon that want to preserve net neutrality. On those meetings, Pai said “the goal here is pretty simple. I’ve been consistent in my view that I favor a free and open Internet and that I oppose Title II.”
Title II is the classification that treats Internet service providers like utilities, and major telecom players have complained of the undue burden on competition and threats to innovation and infrastructure investment.
Pai’s Democratic predecessor, Tom Wheeler, along with companies such as Netflix and Google that rely on mass public use of Internet bandwidth, hailed the net neutrality regulations as a way to prevent service providers from blocking or throttling web content. They oppose any suggestions that content providers should be allowed or obliged to pay for preferential treatment.
