FCC takes a shot at net neutrality

The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing ahead with dismantling net neutrality in a piecemeal manner.

Using its majority, the commission yesterday extended a rule that exempted broadband providers with fewer than 100,000 subscribers from transparency requirements. Under the new policy, the exemption would cover providers with less than 250,000 subscribers.

Net neutrality required all traffic on the internet to be treated equally.

The transparency rule, which was the only part of the original 2010 FCC rules that survived a court challenge in 2014, required broadband providers to inform customers when their internet traffic was being slowed.

The move comes as Ajit Pai, who took over after FCC chairman a month ago, and Republicans in Congress discussed ways to dismantle the regulation. Pai had not stated whether the FCC would scrap the regulation or whether the regulation would be replaced by a new law in the Congress.

According to commentators, a repeal of the rules by the FCC could face legal challenges since a federal appeals court last year upheld the rules and the FCC's authority.

Pai had earlier signalled that he had no intention of enforcing the rules and had earlier this month closed an investigation into AT&T's and Verizon's zero-rating practices, which allowed customers to watch video from certain applications from their mobile devices without it counting against their monthly data caps.(See: FCC shelves net-neutrality investigation against AT&T) Meanwhile, questions are being raised as to why the exemption was being hiked from 100,000 to 250,000 customers.

Commissioner Michael O'Rielly pointed out that ''approximately 17 total wireline and wireless companies nationwide have customer levels between these points.''

But Democratic commissioner Mignon Clyburn noted in her dissenting statement, that at the core of the small business exemption idea, was a similar one for small telecoms providers exempting them from long-distance call documentation. According to an Office of Management and Budget study it would take 64 hours annually for a company to comply and companies with than less than 100,000 subscribers were therefore exempted.

Clyburn said in her statement, "…the Order runs roughshod over past precedent, with no discussion as to why the Commission is changing its mind… today you will not find any rational discussion as to why this cutoff has been revisited. Burdens that the Commission discounted in the past are now given credence without evaluating why prior decisions are being jettisoned."