A year later, FCC is still working out kinks in net neutrality policy
Nearly a year after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved comprehensive regulations on net neutrality after a more than decade-long battle, the regulator is still working out the kinks of its plan.
The regulator is trying to navigate an increasingly fraught environment, as various companies and advocacy groups debate the impact of the new rules.
Along with a court challenge from Internet providers questioning the regulator鈥檚 authority to oversee how Internet service is provided to consumers, the FCC is also facing questions about why it has not extended an exemption to transparency guidelines for small Internet providers.
The regulations overburden small companies 鈥� who serve 21 million Americans in small or rural towns across the country 鈥� one company head told lawmakers from a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee at a hearing Tuesday.
The FCC has also found itself in the middle of a conflict between T-Mobile and a watchdog group over allegations that the carrier was throttling video from a new streaming service, a charge that would appear to violate net neutrality.
Last week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation of throttling the content available through its Binge On streaming service in order to ensure the video doesn鈥檛 count against a customer鈥檚 data plan. Ostensibly, this would seem to go against the net neutrality rules, which say Internet providers, including mobile carriers, may not impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices,"聽with some exceptions, such as to ease network congestion.
But if consumers have of the service, which is enabled by default on all of the company鈥檚 plans 鈥� including those that offer unlimited data 鈥� does it still violate the FCC鈥檚 rules?
T-Mobile, which is expected to meet with the FCC this week to discuss the program, is making the case that since it can be turned off, it鈥檚 not a violation, .
John Legere, the company鈥檚 chief executive officer, wrote in to customers on Monday that 鈥淏inge On is like an economy button built into a new car to save gas, and it鈥檚 a benefit that customers got the minute we launched, to use it as much as they want to."
Last week, Mr. Legere , instead going on the offensive and blasting the watchdog group, which found that Binge On slowed video downloads to about 1.5 megabits per second, meaning the videos appeared on customers鈥� mobile devices as 480p, or the resolution of a DVD, well below HD resolution. Without Binge On enabled, download speeds were nearly 5 Mbps, according to EFF.
鈥淲ho are you, anyway, EFF?鈥� he said in a YouTube video, adding an expletive for emphasis. 鈥淲hy are you stirring so much trouble, and who pays you?鈥�
In a ironic twist, was available only in a high-quality 1080p video on YouTube, which wouldn鈥檛 be available via BingeOn on a mobile device because YouTube is not one of the companies partnering with the carrier to make its content available.
In Monday鈥檚 letter, Legere was more conciliatory, describing himself as a 鈥渧ocal, animated, and sometimes foul-mouthed CEO.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 filter myself and you know that no one at T-Mobile filters me either,鈥� he added, saying he wouldn鈥檛 apologize for starting a 鈥渟ocial media riot鈥� but would apologize for offending the watchdog group and its supporters.
鈥淛ust because we don鈥檛 completely agree on all aspects of Binge On doesn鈥檛 meant I don鈥檛 see how they fight of consumers," he wrote. "We both agree it is important to protect consumers鈥� rights and to give consumers value."
Previously, Tom Wheeler, the FCC Chairman, had described Binge On as 鈥渉ighly competitive and highly innovative鈥� at the agency鈥檚 meeting in November, though he later asked for more information about the service.
But as the regulator works to address such issues, the 鈥渞egulatory uncertainty鈥� it creates is harming small Internet providers, Elizabeth Bowles, president of Aristotle Inc., an Internet provider headquartered in Little Rock, Ark., told the lawmakers on Capitol Hill Tuesday.
鈥淢y company has never throttled, never capped usage, nor required anyone to pay to prioritize [Internet] traffic,鈥� said Ms. Bowles, who testified on behalf of industry group the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association.
Many lawmakers and Internet providers expressed support for a House bill that would prohibit the FCC from regulating the rates users pay for broadband services. Obama and Chairman Wheeler have also said the FCC shouldn鈥檛 regulate broadband rates.
But buried in that bill, and a related effort to create a permanent exemption from the FCC鈥檚 transparency requirements for small businesses, is language that could curb other actions by the FCC, some Democratic lawmakers argued.
"[U]nder the guise of not unduly burdening small broadband providers, the bill would exempt companies with hundreds of millions in annual revenue from complying with the enhanced transparency requirements included in the FCC鈥檚 2015 Open Internet Order," (D) of California, the ranking member of the committee鈥檚 Communications and Technology subcommittee.
The the definition of a 鈥渟mall business鈥� to those with under 1,500 employees or 500,000 Internet subscribers, said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, a watchdog group, expanding the providers covered under the bill to include mid-size firms.
Because the definition of regulating 鈥渞ates鈥� for broadband could cover activities such as the FCC鈥檚 Universal Service Foundation, which attempts to expand affordable broadband access to rural parts of the US 鈥� after all, who decides what is 鈥渁ffordable鈥� 鈥� the bills are too broad, he argued.
鈥淏luntly, before Congress strips millions of people of protections against fraud and abuse, it should have clear evidence of a real need, and narrowly tailor the bill to meet that need,鈥� Mr. Feld told lawmakers.
Passing these bills in their current form, he said, employing an analogy for faulty software, 鈥渨ill create bugs in our legal code that bad actors can exploit and will crash FCC efforts to bring affordable broadband for ordinary Americans.鈥�
