The Business of Broadband

Right before I left work last night the story broke that the FCC plans to reclassify Internet under Title II of the Telecommunications Act, which reverses the course the FCC set in 2002 when they deregulated Internet lines.

It’s been a roller-coaster ride for Net Neutrality proponents and opponents this week. According to a story on Monday in the Washington Post, unnamed sources at the FCC stated that Chairman Genachowski was leaning towards not imposing new regulations on broadband providers, and agreed that reclassifying broadband services “would be overly burdensome on carriers and would deter investment”.

Usually, when someone comments anonymously like this, it’s a trial balloon that’s sent up simply to test public reaction.  If the reaction is harsh or overly unfavorable, you can pull back with plausible deniability.  In this case the sources also said that he had not yet made a final decision, which bolstered that theory a bit.

Still, I didn’t think that was entirely the case. The FCC had already sought comment on additional broadband regulations, and they had plenty of reaction from both sides. In fact, on this issue the chairman is the poster child for the saying “between a rock and a hard place”.  As I mentioned in my recent post on Net Neutrality, there are plenty like me who feel that there is no need for further regulation at this time. There are plenty more on the other side who are convinced that broadband companies are already misbehaving, and will take further advantage of consumers and start-ups if new regulations are not imposed. Whatever decision was made, the reaction from the losing side was sure to be strong, although I think a bit more vociferous from Net Neutrality supporters.

So, I thought what we had was a trial balloon with a slow leak, where the primary purpose was to prepare Net Neutrality supporters that they might not get their wish at this time.  By leaking the decision beforehand, it would somewhat soften the blow. People would still be angry when the official announcement was made, but some of the edge would have been taken off by that point.

Well, imagine my surprise last night when I heard the news that the FCC is planning on reclassifying broadband. I’m now trying to make sense of the story in the Post. Was it really a trial balloon, and the reaction from Net Neutrality supporters did have an effect on Genachowski’s decision? Or, maybe, now that I look closer, it was an attempt to leak the fact that the Chairman was going to take a middle-of-the-road approach:

“Genachowski has not made a final decision but has indicated in recent discussions that he is leaning toward keeping in place the current regulatory framework for broadband services but making some changes that would still bolster the FCC’s chances of overseeing some broadband policies”. [emphasis mine]

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal this morning, the FCC will propose a “notice of proposed forbearance” that will stipulate which parts of Title II it will not try to enforce.  I guess that could be it, although to me and most others, it sounded like Net Neutrality and reclassification of broadband were pretty much off the table.

Note to FCC officials: Please be more clear when you leak something.

###