President Obama weighed in on the net neutrality debate, voicing his support for reclassifying the Internet as a utility. His statements seemingly contradicted the position of FCC chairman Tom Wheeler who has been touting a “hybrid” regulatory approach, although Wheeler says the reclassification option is “on the table.”
The confusion over impending net neutrality regulations has led broadband provider AT&T to halt further deployment of its high speed fiber optic Internet network, according to Reuters.
“We can’t go out and invest that kind of money deploying fiber to 100 cities not knowing under what rules those investments will be governed. … We think it is prudent to just pause and make sure we have line of sight and understanding as to what those rules would look like,” said AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson.
While opponents of increased net neutrality regulation have long argued that measures such as reclassification will result in divestment in broadband, it appears that the absence of a clear direction on net neutrality may have a similar and more immediate effect.
Should other Internet providers follow AT&T’s lead, broadband investment could stagnate until the situation is resolved. The FCC has delayed its decision on net neutrality to early 2015 and lawsuits over the proposed rule changes could take years to resolve.
