Protesters rally at the FCC in 2014 in favor of net neutrality rules. (credit: Stephen Melkisethian)
When the Federal Communications Commission voted to regulate Internet providers as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act last year, Chairman Tom Wheeler made it clear that the FCC could have imposed even stricter requirements.
The commission primarily used Title II to impose net neutrality rules that prevent Internet providers from blocking or throttling traffic or giving priority to Web services in exchange for payment. But the FCC could have also imposed rate regulation and required last-mile "unbundling," which would force Internet providers to let competitors offer service over their networks.
Wheeler rejected that type of heavy-handed utility regulation, instead announcing that there would be "no rate regulation, no filing of tariffs, and no network unbundling." By promising only "light-touch" common carrier rules, Wheeler tried to convince Internet providers that the new regulatory regime wouldn't be that bad. Of course, the FCC was sued by broadband providers anyway. “Everybody sues us about everything,” Wheeler once said after a different decision on prison phone rates.
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