Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The FCC on Thursday voted to start the process of classifying the internet as a telecommunications service under Title II of the Communications Act.
Driving the news: Commissioners, as expected, voted along party lines with Republicans denouncing the rulemaking as a waste of time.
Why it matters: The reclassification will give the agency broader authority to regulate internet services providers.
- In addition to establishing net neutrality rules — no blocking, throttling or paid prioritization — FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel will seek to use the newfound powers to strengthen national security and public safety.
- That means safeguarding the country's telecommunications networks and infrastructure against cyber threats and service outages during emergencies.
- Rosenworcel said reclassification will also allow the agency to protect consumer privacy, better fight against scam calls and texts, and establish a uniform standard as more states implement their own net neutrality laws.
Of note: In response to internet companies' greatest fear, Rosenworcel has explicitly said the agency is relinquishing its power to do any rate regulation. But industry isn't buying it.
- Skeptics point to the agency's goal of determining internet companies are offering just and reasonable rates and the ability of a future chair to take back rate regulation powers.
What they're saying: "This is not a stalking horse for rate regulation. Nope. No how, no way. We know competition is the best way to bring down rates for consumers. And approaches like the Affordable Connectivity Program are the best bet for making sure service is affordable for all," Rosenworcel said during Thursday's meeting.
- Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society senior counselor in a statement: "First responders and people in need of their services, schools and their students, medical providers and their patients, lower income Americans and businesses, governments and family members seeking to communicate with them all need a regulatory process that serves their needs."
The other side: "Since the FCC's 2017 decision to return the Internet to the same successful and bipartisan regulatory framework under which it thrived for decades, broadband speeds in the U.S. have increased, prices are down, competition has intensified, and record-breaking new broadband builds have brought millions of Americans across the digital divide," said FCC Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr during Thursday's meeting.
- USTelecom head Jonathan Spalter in an Oct. 16 letter to lawmakers: "While [the FCC] has a role to play in broader government efforts, it should not take a unilateral regulatory path on cybersecurity policies narrowly focused on the traditional communications sector when the rest of government is seeking cross-sector, harmonized, and multi-agency solutions."
What's next: A public comment period will begin for the rulemaking and it will be several months before any final rule is adopted.
- Opponents are banking on the rule to eventually be overturned by the courts or a future Republican FCC chair.
